严父斥子

This is a story from the book Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio.

There was an old man with the surname Feng, he had a son named Xiangru. Xiangru studied hard but failed several times in passing the imperial examination.

One night when Xiangru was reading books in the courtyard, he was surprised to see a beautiful girl on the wall looking at him affectionately（亲切地） . Xiangru invited her to come down from the wall and knew that her name was Hong Yu.

From then on, Hong Yu came to meet Xiangru every night and soon they fell in love. One night, Feng happened to run into Hong Yu at the door of Xiangru's room. Feng scolded Xiangru severely. Hong Yu slipped away and she never came there again. Later, Xiangru got married. His wife was called Wei and they had a boy named Lucky.

Untortunately, the bully in the village, Song, was moved by Wei's good looks and snatched her away. Feng was so indignant（愤愤不平的） that finally he died. Another day, a brave man rushed into Xiangru's room and said, "Have you forgotten that your father has died and your wife was snatched away by Song?" Xiangru hurriedly told the man that he wanted revenge but had no way to achieve it. Then, Song was beheaded that same night. The county government suspected Xiangru and detained him.

The evening that Xiangru was arrested, no sooner the governmental official lied down than he saw a knife stabbed on the head of the bed. One day at his home, Xiangru heard his child talking to somebody outside the door. He opened the door and was surprised and glad to see Hong Yu standing there with Lucky. Hong Yu smiled and said, "I am not a common girl, but a fox spirit. I know that you have been in trouble; I am secretly protecting you." Since then, Hong Yu stayed with Xiangru to manage the family affairs and teach the child.