"Can you carry all that by yourself?"
The old man hesitated, not handing Xiao Xiao the bag containing three jars of osmanthus jam.
Young Friend Xiao already had two bags.
Those pastries weren't light, either.
Besides, he was already holding a little fox.
Speaking of which, the old man couldn't help admiring how clever the little fox was.
Just now, when he'd handed the bag of pastries to Young Friend Xiao—
His hand had stopped.
He'd regretted only then realizing there was a problem.
Young Friend Xiao was holding the little fox in both arms.
He didn't actually have a free hand.
If the things were light, he could manage.
But these two bags of pastries—
The old man had frozen.
He'd seen the little fox leap onto Young Friend Xiao's shoulder and curl up there.
It moved with practiced ease.
It looked very well-behaved, too.
As if it didn't want to cause Young Friend Xiao any trouble.
By the time the old man came to his senses, he realized the bag in his hand had already been taken by Young Friend Xiao.
He couldn't help feeling rather impressed.
"Young Friend Xiao, your fox is really clever."
"And good-looking, too."
The old man hadn't been all that surprised that Xiao Xiao brought a fox around with him.
When they'd first met, all his attention had been on the child.
By the time they met again, it was their second encounter, and everyone else had acted as though it were perfectly normal. So he'd felt even less inclined to show too much surprise.
It would make him look like he'd never seen the world.
He'd seen plenty of people in the city bringing their pets along with them.
So what was there to be surprised about when Young Friend Xiao