Chapter 1
Father always said I was the Tushan clan’s last hope.
That was because my four elder brothers had all turned out hopeless.
First Brother was henpecked, Second Brother was a man of few words, and Third Brother was hopelessly effeminate…
As for Fourth Brother…
He was a shameless simp…
They were a disgrace to foxkind.
Father and Mother decided sons must be the problem. After praying and making offerings, they finally had me.
I was the first female fox born to Tushan in a hundred years.
We Tushan foxes were born with the power to enchant people.
Our fox charms were the foundation of our survival.
When I was three, Mother taught me how to make bedroom eyes. I tried until my eyelid started twitching.
Mother comforted me.
“Our Xiaowu is still young. There’s no rush.”
When I was seven, Mother taught me to sway my hips. I stuck out my big backside and strutted all over the mountain.
Mother pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Our Xiaowu is simply a late bloomer… One day, she’ll be a fox of great promise.”
Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye, and I was still as wide-eyed and foolish as ever…
Mother was so furious that she kicked me in the backside.
“Hu Xiaowu, get out!”
Later, Fourth Brother came back from the city.
He looked at me, then at Mother.
At last, he covered his forehead and stared up at the sky with a bitter smile.
“You two spend all day dressed like that while learning how to seduce people?”
Mother leaped up and hammered him on the head.
“It’s enchantment! Fox enchantment!”
Then she tugged her floral padded jacket tighter around herself and looked innocently at him.
“What’s wrong with these big red flowers?”
I copied her and tugged my floral padded jacket tighter too.
I chimed in,
“Exactly. They’re beautiful.”
Fourth Brother’s eye twitched.
He rubbed between his brows, then pulled a long rectangular thing from his pocket.
One tap, and it lit up with a whoosh.
All of us crowded our heads around it.
As Fourth Brother moved his finger, several beautiful women appeared inside the little box.
Their skirts did not even reach their knees.
They showed off pale thighs, slender necks, and bright red lips.
Fourth Brother raised his brows smugly.
“See? This is what a woman who can turn heads looks like.”
Father kicked him as soon as he heard that.
“I knew you little bastard had been learning nothing good out there.”
Father only let the matter drop after Fourth Brother promised to bring him one of those long rectangular things next time.
Fourth Brother said the world outside had changed long ago.
What Mother and I wore was hopelessly old-fashioned.
Even an eighty-year-old granny in the village would not dress like us.
But Mother was already three hundred.
Fourth Brother motioned for me to keep quiet, then said solemnly,
“If Xiaowu wants to become a real fox temptress, she needs to go out and see the world.”
And so I became the first fox in Tushan’s ten-thousand-year history who had to study math, physics, and chemistry.
Fourth Brother said city college students were the most innocent and clueless people around.
I would fit right in without giving myself away.
He patted my head.
“If Xiaowu lands herself a rich patron, she’ll bring glory to the whole clan.”
The finest fox in our clan’s history was Daji, who enchanted a mortal king.
Granted, things did not end very well for her.
But among foxes, her exploits were still the stuff of legend.
Sadly, mortal kings grew wiser after that.
No matter how formidable the foxes who followed her were, the best they managed was a general or a prince.
So I threw myself into studying.
I was determined to surpass our ancestress Daji.
At last, in the year I turned one hundred and came of age, I earned a place at a university in the city.
In fox years, I had only just become an adult.
How did that not make me a clever fox?
There were still three months before term began.
Fourth Brother sent me to the city early so I could get used to it.
I was also supposed to work my way through school.
I asked him what that meant.
Before Fourth Brother could answer, Second Brother leaned over.
“It means Fourth Brother is broke, so you have to earn your own tuition.”
I stared at him in astonishment.
“Second Brother, that’s the longest thing I’ve ever heard you say!”
He did not answer. He merely rolled his eyes at me.
The day I left, Mother dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief.
“Xiaowu, Mother has been craving Shengji’s peach-blossom pastries. When you earn some money, remember to buy me some.”
Fourth Brother sighed helplessly.
“Mother, the Qing dynasty fell ages ago. Grass over that handsome Shengji owner’s grave must be ten feet tall by now.”
“Stop pining for him.”
Mother produced a stick from nowhere and chased Fourth Brother around with it.
That was when Father, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke.
“Xiaowu, if anyone bullies you out there, remember to tell Father.”
“I’ll make a little effigy and curse them for you.”
How had I never noticed how superstitious Father was?