After school, he was then offered himself to a succubus.

"Cats, dogs, birds."

Tu Shan Han Su leaned closer and sniffed, summarizing Zhang Chen's scent as if it were a treasure trove.

"Do you spend all your time at the zoo?"

"Going to the zoo behind my back is no different from going to a brothel."

Miss Fox's nose seems to be more sensitive; Bai Nuoyan can only smell the dog.

"Today's favorability rating is reset." Tu Shan Han Su glanced at him and handed him a bag of still-alive carp. "You're punished to dig a fishpond now and raise a few carp at home to make it more festive."

Zhang Chen took the carp, then winked at the mice watching the show, and the mice, who had been gloating, immediately fell silent.

As the lowest-level labor force in the matchmaking agency, they are always exploited at every level, and the hard work of digging fish ponds ultimately falls on the rats.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

The smallest mouse, wearing glasses, protested, meaning it was rebelling against human tyranny and that the world belonged to mice.

"Squeak! One piece of Panpan bread costs me a whole day to mop the floor! Is there no more right for mice?!" Another mouse stepped forward.

"West Sea!" A rat with a mustache trimmed into a V-shape stood on the wall and made a gesture that any failed art student would make.

In an instant, the crowd was filled with indignation. A few rats even brought over a small water gun they had picked up from somewhere and sprayed water on Zhang Chen's trouser legs, saying things like "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" and so on.

Miss Fox smiled when she saw this, but only for a moment before she stopped.

"I'm going to cook. Before the food is ready, finish digging the fishpond. I have something important to tell you later."

"Understood." Zhang Chen kicked away the rat under his feet and saluted Tu Shan Han Su.

"Stop arguing. I'll improve your food after I finish filming in a few days when I have money." He then turned to the rats and said.

"And didn't you all used to eat junk food? Now you're eating bread?"

"Squeak! Eating garbage is too feudal! We are rats of the new era now, we drink boiled water and eat fine bran!" said the leader of the rats.

"Squeak! What kind of movie are you going to make? Will we see you on TV? Or on the dark web?"

"..."

These mice learn incredibly fast, but they learn a wide variety of things.

Soon, the mice, who had been given a big promise by Zhang Chen, began to work diligently. With hundreds of mice, their labor capacity was quite high, and in less than half an hour, a small fishpond of two square meters was dug.

A calico cat and a golden retriever were carrying buckets of water and pouring them into the fishpond.

Zhang Chen poured some yang energy into the fishpond, and the next moment, a layer of light green aquatic plants grew at the bottom of the water.

Then pour the carp into the water, and they swim happily.

[List of Yokai Included]

[Already included: Carp Spirit]

[Reward: Greatly enhanced reproductive ability]

What Tu Shan Han Su brought back were indeed monsters, but their scales were all damaged, and the most seriously injured ones were still bleeding.

However, after being treated in the fishpond infused with Zhang Chen's yang energy, the wound will heal quickly.

"Immortal!" A little carp poked its head out and blew bubbles at him.

"How did you guys run into Tu Shan Han Su?" Zhang Chen asked.

"We tried to leap over the Dragon Gate in the Yellow River! But we failed each time, and failure meant death... It was a fox spirit who saved us when she happened to pass by!"

Zhang Chen was stunned. The Yellow River was not close to Ning'an. Why was Tu Shan Han Su running to such a far place every day? What was she doing?

"A carp leaping over the dragon gate?"

"Yes, immortal!" the little carp exclaimed, blowing bubbles.

"If you leap over the Dragon Gate, will you truly become dragons?"

"Of course! However, the last time a carp succeeded was before that."

"?"

"How long ago was the last time?"

"Fifteen hundred years ago! An immortal!"

"Since the hope is so slim, why risk your life just for a meteoric rise to power?"

The carp were blowing bubbles, as if they were laughing.

"No, sir! When we leap over the dragon gate, we use each other's strength and stack ourselves up. The fish in front jumps into the air, using its back as a springboard to support its companions behind, one after another! That's how all the carp in front die!"

"Besides, becoming a true dragon is much more tiring than being a carp! No carp wants to be a true dragon!"

"How is that possible? Aren't dragons supposed to be able to ride the clouds and mist?"

"Immortal! You've never been a fish, so how would you know the joy of a fish! Our memory only lasts seven seconds, so everything we see every second is new! Every second of life is wonderful!"

"On the contrary, after becoming monsters, our memories improved, and we've never been as happy as before."

"Becoming a dragon means living for a very, very long time, experiencing countless hardships—we dare not even imagine how painful that would be!"

"Fifteen hundred years ago, that true dragon was heartbroken by a human, and has been shrouded in sorrow ever since, nowhere to be found. Without a dragon to protect the river, we are forced to leap over the Dragon Gate once more!"

"Alright, I'll name you guys then, hmm... from oldest to youngest: Old Fish, Big Fish, Medium Fish, Little Fish..."

"Immortal! What about me? What about me!" the smallest carp exclaimed, blowing bubbles.

"Your name is Jinzai."

"?"

"Zhang Chen, dinner's ready," Tu Shan Han Su called out.

"Here it comes." Zhang Chen rubbed his arms. It was unusually cold tonight; something felt off.

On the dining table, there were three dishes and a soup, all of which looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.

In the realm of Fox Spirit Little Chef, Tu Shan Han Su is still considered the most authoritative source.

As soon as Zhang Chen sat down, a pair of snow-white feet stretched out from under the table, as nimble as snakes, and slipped between his trouser legs.

Rubbing.

He paused, losing his appetite.

"After a demon transforms, its feet are generally more agile than its hands." Tu Shan Han Su stomped her feet, her pretty face expressionless. "For example, I am a fox. Before I transformed, I didn't have hands, only front legs and hind legs."

"That's good."

"Have you talked to the carp?" she asked.

"We've already talked."

"They're quite interesting; they don't actually like immortality..." Tu Shan Han Su picked up an oyster stuffed with goji berries and put it in Zhang Chen's bowl. "Actually, this is what most monsters think too."

"If a monster doesn't engage with the world, it's boring no matter how long it lives. But once it does, very few monsters can survive for more than a thousand years."

"The human world is too prosperous, yet too bitter. Thousands of years of experience are enough to drive them mad. Sometimes, being sober is a kind of pain," she said softly.

"Clever monsters will choose to live in the world for a few decades and then go into seclusion for a few hundred years to forget the troubles of the human world, so that when they re-enter the world, it will be a new world."

"So this is... you?" Zhang Chen asked, panting heavily.

"Well, there are also some not-so-bright monsters who are willing to endure thousands of years of torment in their lucidity just to wait for someone."

Tu Shan Han Su put down her chopsticks, quickened the rubbing of her feet, and looked at him coldly, "Did you see that stupid bird today?"

"..."

Zhang Chen was stunned. If it weren't for the incredibly smooth and delicate feet of Miss Fox, he would have been scared out of his wits.

This was the first time Tu Shan Han Su had mentioned other female demons to him.

What did you do, bird?