Chapter 43.1 - Warm hotpot on a snowy night

After Nie Yong hung up, he silently stared at the ring on his finger. He and Xue Lu had gone into a little ring shop on holiday once and made the rings themselves. It was sterling silver and very simple, but it was personally made by Xue Lu. The one on her hand was also made by him. It was a little ugly. Xue Lu had teased him many times about it but had never taken it off.

When he first saw Xue Lu, she was in her fourth year of university. She was so beautiful wearing a white dress. Like a water fairy from children’s fairy tales or from mythology. She seemed like she should be cherished in the palm of your hand. Nie Yong had fallen in love at first sight and thus prepared to launch a strong offence to woo her hand.

Fortunately, he had seen Xue Lu reject the pursuit of a rich second generation boy. He remembered that Xue Lu said she liked someone with a strong sense of self. She wasn’t afraid of not having money. As long as she kept diligently moving forward she would be better than a rich second generation who only drives luxury cars from morning to night and lived a hollow and lonely life.

The unfortunate thing was that Nie Yong was exactly the type of person Xue Lu disliked. A second generation that had nothing else apart from money. To pursue the goddess in his heart, he recreated himself as a promising youth with a satisfactory family background that was actively trying to improve himself. Nie Yong was intimate and caring, was constantly available for whatever reason, and had a pretty good family background. In the middle of all those rich sons who only knew how to throw money at Xue Lu, he was able to smoothly get her hand.

Nie Yong was constantly trying to find the right moment to come clean but he was worried that their feelings had not reached that level of stability and kept putting it off.

He was lost in his thoughts and subconsciously drove home.

The moment he entered and saw Xue Lu’s shoes by the doorway, he paused in the middle of taking off his shoes. He didn’t know why, but heart sunk.

Xue Lu heard the noise and came out of her study. When she saw Nie Yong she felt a bit uneasy. “Why are you home so early today?”

Nie Yong put away his shoes. The moment he turned he put away his serious demeanour and smiled as usual. “Weren’t you out with your girlfriends today? How come you came home so early?”

Xue Lu stepped forward to help Nie Yong out of his coat and hung it. She casually replied, “Some people had other obligations so everybody just decided to end it. Did you eat lunch? If not, I can cook you a bowl of noodles.”

“No need, I’ve already eaten. Where did you go? Was it fun?” Nie Yong asked.

Xue Lu didn’t overthink and thought Nie Yong was also just making small talk. An interrogation was the last thing on her mind. “We were just window shopping at the shopping centre. And then sat in a dessert house for a while.”

Nie Yong took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and took one out. He didn’t light it but asked, “Was it the one in the one in the city centre?”

Xue Lu thought it was strange that Nie Yong was asking specifics. She turned to look at him and discovered that he was sitting on the sofa playing with a cigarette in his hand with a serious face on. Xue Lu had a bad feeling in her heart. Nie Yong was acting a bit strange today and she was a bit apprehensive. “What happened?”

Nie Yong lifted his head to look at her and directly said, “Did you see Old Lu and his Samoyed today? They also went to that shopping centre today, not sure if you bumped into them.”

Xue Lu was stunned. Although there was a saying that the day has eyes and the night has ears, she thought that no one would know especially since there were no cameras. The dog would not know what she did and was also unable to speak. There was no way this situation leaked out. But when faced with Nie Yong’s straightforward question, she was unable to stop the panic on her face. However she was determined to stay calm, “I didn’t.”

Compared with business elites such as Lu Chenghe and Lou Jiu, Nie Yong was like trash sitting around waiting to die. But even though he is trash, he still can read people. Xue Lu’s expression just now explained everything. Even if Nie Yong wanted to help Xue Lu make up an excuse and say that she only unintentionally picked something up, he couldn’t anymore. If she really just picked something up then she wouldn’t be so panicked.

But Nie Yong still wanted to give her and out, “Then did you happen to pick up anything today?”

Xue Lu instinctively tried to evade the question, “I didn’t. Why are you asking such a strange question?”

The questions were so clear. Excuses had also been prepared and served up for her. But Xue Lu still acted like she wouldn’t submit even until death. Nie Yong was so frustrated that he lit his cigarette. He just couldn’t understand. It hadn’t been a long time but Xue Lu had already changed so much. Was the person he knew before just a beautiful facade? But if she wanted such expensive and valuable things, why did she refuse those boys who were willing to spend so much money on her?

Xue Lu watched Nie Yong start smoking. If it was as normal she would have thrown away his cigarette. But today she only wanted to avoid him. “I’m going back to the study, you can entertain yourself.”

Just when Xue Lu stepped on the stairs, Nie Yong opened his mouth, “That dog tag has a positioning system in it.”

In a split second, Xue Lu felt all the blood in her body freeze and her face drained of colour.

When Qingniao city had their first snow, Lu Chenghe’s childhood friend Nie Yong lost his love in a blaze of glory.

Zuo Ning sat by the window, watching the blanket of snow outside. He was restless and wanted to go outside but his so-called owner thought he would get cold so limited his movements outdoors. He had never seen snow before and he was a sled dog! When he used to be a human, he had only made snowmen with his father when he was very young. After he started going to school he was always busy with classes and homework. Even during Chinese New Year, he had to visit various relatives and had never been able to relax and play around.

Now he was a dog and had a very thick layer of fur protecting him. Plus even if he did things that were considered childish, no one would know. Unfortunately, even though he had the intention to play, he did not have the freedom to.

Zuo Ning raised his paw and stretched out his claws intending to vent his dissatisfaction by scratching the glass. Then he heard Lu Chenghe say, “If you dare to make an ear-piercing noise, I will chop off your paws.”

Zuo Ning turned back to give him a glance. Lu Chenghe was reading with his head lowered, but he seemed to have a radar that was constantly monitoring what Zuo Ning was doing. He silently retracted his paw. “Awoo!” Let’s go out and play! There’s so much snow.

“Be quiet.”

Zuo Ning whimpered pitifully. He continued to rest his head on the window and eagerly and anxiously looked outside like a left-behind child.

The scenery outside the window showed two black backs happily playing a game of tag in the snow like mindless children.

Lu Chenghe raised his head and took a look. “Little Pudding. Come here.”

Zuo Ning turned his head and saw Lu Chenghe put down his book. On one hand he wanted to take a stand and show he was not the type to come when beckoned, but on the other hand, it was really boring to just watch what was happening outside. He also wanted to stick by Lu Chenghe and increase their intimacy. After waffling for a while he dawdled over to Lu Chenghe. “Woof?” Why did you call me?

Lu Chenghe rubbed that fluffy head, “Want to go outside?”

Zuo Ning’s tail began to wag. “Woof!” Play, let’s play! Such a big snowfall is rare.

The world turned white after just one night. Even the morning run was carried out in the indoor gym. The two outside were playing so happily so how come he was not allowed to? He was the actual authentic snow dog here and more suited towards the cold than Lang Ya.

“Then will you bite the pillow in the future?”

Zuo Ning shifted his eyesight. It wasn’t like he wanted to bite it. Who knew that he would act like he was possessed and begin to subconsciously bite things. He felt like he was assimilating too well with his dog body and was now unable to control himself.

Lu Chenghe lifted the book and tapped Little Pudding’s head. “Speak. Will you still bite pillows in the future?”

Zuo Ning jumped on top of the sofa and climbed up to Lu Chenghe’s thigh. He used his head to rub Lu Chenghe’s chin. “Awoo~” Won’t bite~ Such a little thing but it’s been on your mind for a whole morning.

Lu Chenghe played with Little Pudding’s ear with a smile when he saw him acting like a spoiled child. “You are admitting your wrongs but not repenting. Look at the toys that you have scratched. Breaking things every day. Why are your paws so disobedient, hm?”

Zuo Ning pressed himself on Lu Chenghe’s thigh, his two paws uncontrollably reaching out to scratch the sofa. The moment he realised what he was doing, he quickly retrieved his claws and sneakily peeked at Lu Chenghe. Seeing that Lu Chenghe was expressionlessly looking at himself, he immediately took back his two paws and fell into Lu Chenghe’s arms.

Lu Chenghe patted that warm fur and slapped the retreating paws. “I just said it and immediately you make the same mistake. A fish has a longer memory than you do.”

Zuo Ning howled and stretched his paws out to grab Lu Chenghe’s hand. He clung and stuck to Lu Chenghe for a good while until the steward came over, “Young master, everything is ready.”

Zuo Ning lifted his head to look at the steward, then turned back to look at Lu Chenghe.

Lu Chenghe’s pet his fur and asking, “Will you be obedient?”

Zuo Ning lifted his head, “Awoo!”

Lu Chenghe said, “Come, left paw.”

Zuo Ning gave him a glance and lifted his left paw.

“Right paw.”

Zuo Ning continued to raise his left paw.

Lu Chenghe rubbed his head, “You still can’t tell the difference between left and right.”

Zuo Ning was speechless. Did he think it was easy to act like a dumb dog?! He was afraid that acting too smart would scare people to death!

Lu Chenghe patted the dog’s head. “Let’s go. I’ll bring you outside to play.”

The moment Zuo Ning heard that, he climbed down from Lu Chenghe’s body. Lu Chenghe had a leash in his hand. Then they were definitely going out and not just walking around the backyard. He turned to look out the window at the constantly falling snow. Going out in this kind of weather?

He followed Lu Chenghe to the door and saw the chauffeur was driving a different car than usual. It was a black off-road vehicle. When he was preparing to lift his feet and jump up, he heard Lu Chenghe’s daily taunt. “Do you need someone to carry you up? The chassis is so high, you probably can’t climb up yourself.”

Zuo Ning snorted, with a leap and a step, he didn’t even break a sweat. He turned his head to look at Lu Chenghe. Hmph, who said his legs were short?

Lu Chenghe looked at those eyes that exuded smugness and couldn’t help but smile. Silly dog.

Naz: Left-behind child — Not sure if anyone has heard of the phenomenon but it is describing rural children whose parents have to make a living as migrant workers in distant urban areas, but cannot afford to bring the child with them. Often they live with their grandparents and only see their parents once a year.