The biggest commotion at No. 66 Wutong Road was usually caused by Yu Sheng's fury and the little doll's shrieks and scratching—but now there was also the sound of a fox girl sitting nearby, enjoying the spectacle while crunching away at potato chips.
A dozen minutes later, Yu Sheng successfully subdued and punished the doll, who had been leaping around and even trying to bite people. He hung her from the clothes-drying rack on the living room balcony.
"Yu Sheng, you bastard! Put me down!" Eileen kicked wildly in midair with both arms spread wide. The drying pole had been threaded through both her sleeves, hanging her from behind and fastening her to the rack. She swayed in the air like a piece of salty fish left out to dry. "It's only a temporary ban! A temporary ban! Just twelve hours—my account can still be saved! You're not really planning to leave me hanging here for twelve hours, are you? Don't you have a conscience? At least hang me in a more comfortable position!"
"If I used clips, you'd break free on your own." Yu Sheng sat on the nearby sofa and shot a sidelong glance at the doll hanging from the drying pole. "I hung you up to teach you a lesson. Don't mess with my things whenever you feel like it. Relax, I'll let you down before dinner—but if there's a next time, I'll hang you in the basement."
The doll immediately started making a huge fuss, displaying her indomitable spirit and her determination to resist violent coercion. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Let me down, let me down..."
Her main display of resistance was having no resistance at all. Don't let her terrible gaming, foul mouth, bad temper, and poor memory fool you—she