Before heading out, Zuo Ning ran to the mirror for a quick look at himself. His fur was still thick and shiny, bright white and fluffy, perfectly complementing his delicate little face—absolutely stunning. He gave his tail a little flick, nodded in satisfaction, and confirmed that he was as good-looking as ever today. With his tiny rear lifted, he trotted toward the butler waiting at the door.
Seated inside the car, Little Pudding waved a paw through the window as they passed by Lang Ya and Fu Na. “Woof!” I’m off to make money—see you later!
The German shepherd watched the car drive away and barked in response, “Woof!” See you! Then, turning to sniff at Fu Na, he let out a low whine. “Woo woo…” These little ones start earning money at such a young age now… way more impressive than us.
Fu Na, lazily sprawled on the steps, snorted. “Woof!” Yeah, definitely more promising than you, who spends your entire salary every month.
The shepherd curled his lips in disdain and huffed at his companion, who always seemed to dig up his past embarrassments. Then, with a cold snort, he ran off to a nearby tree and started digging again. That was one good thing about the new home—no one would scold him no matter how many holes he dug.
As he dug, his paws gradually slowed. Eventually, he lay down at the edge of the hole, absentmindedly tracing patterns in the dirt with his claws. His eyes grew wetter and wetter. That person would never come to scold him again. Never again.
Upon arriving at the set, Zuo Ning immediately sensed that something felt off. He followed the butler inside and soon spotted one of the people from this morning’s news standing there, head bowed, tears welling up as he repeatedly apologized to the director.
Even from a distance, Zuo Ning could still make out the conversation.
Everything was his fault. He shouldn’t have played with the dog on set. It was all his mistake. He begged the director for another chance.
At first, Zuo Ning didn’t quite understand what the guy was getting at, but on the way here, he had finally pieced it together—this was a high-level publicity stunt.
Leeching off Chu Hang’s trending topic gave him a brief moment in the spotlight, and then he quickly followed up with an apology. On the surface, it looked like he hadn’t offended anyone and was even going out of his way to praise Chu Hang. Even if Chu Hang knew exactly what was going on, there was no way for him to call him out on it.
This was like being forced to eat a bowl of porridge that you knew had been crawled over by flies—but to everyone else, it looked clean and nutritious. Wasting it would only get you scolded. Eating it was nauseating, but refusing would ruin your reputation.
Zuo Ning lay down on his chair, watching as the director frowned and waved his hand, allowing that person to leave after a series of excessive thank-you’s. He couldn’t help but sigh—people really would do anything to climb the ranks.
Since the drama hadn’t even finished filming before this controversy broke out, the director was displeased. He gave the cast a stern scolding, and only then did things settle down on set. Of course, behind the scenes, Zuo Ning still witnessed a few incidents where actors with less screen time were bullied. As filming progressed, some people’s true colors gradually started showing. Every day, Zuo Ning eagerly watched the drama unfold, going to work with even more enthusiasm than Lu Chenghe.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t share all the juicy gossip, which was practically suffocating for a dog!
After a row of small glass boxes—each containing one of Zuo Ning’s baby teeth—was strung up by Lu Chenghe’s window, all of Zuo Ning’s remaining scenes were rushed to completion. The director approached the butler, saying there were plenty of fun behind-the-scenes clips of Little Pudding that could be shared. If Little Pudding had his own Weibo account, they could even be posted there.
Zuo Ning hadn’t expected it at all—but just like that, he became an internet celebrity.
However, before he even realized that he had turned into a viral dog, he first received his payment for the drama—or rather, a bonus.
Since he was technically the Lu family’s dog, his role in the drama was more of a cameo arranged by Lu Chenghan as a favor, so his earnings weren’t officially recorded in the production’s accounts. Although Lu Chenghe didn’t care about the money, Lu Chenghan still gave Little Pudding a bonus as a reward. After all, it was his first job and he had performed exceptionally well. A little reward for commemoration seemed fitting.
On the day Little Pudding wrapped up his scenes, Lu Chenghan personally came to the set to check in. He even handed Little Pudding a card and said, “This is your payment. You can buy lots and lots of meat with this.”
Inside a private dressing room, Lu Chenghan was teasing Little Pudding when Chu Hang, standing beside him, gave him a gentle nudge. “Dogs don’t even know what a card is. You’re just messing with him.”
But Zuo Ning’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the card being handed to him. Of course, he knew what it was! If they told him the PIN, he’d even go withdraw the money himself! He just didn’t know how much was in there. This was the Lu family’s eldest young master—surely, he wouldn’t be stingy, right?
Excitedly, Zuo Ning trotted forward and grabbed the card in his mouth without hesitation. He then tried his best to tuck it into his little backpack. Every time he went out, he carried his own small bag, though there was never really anything inside. He’d heard that the bag was from some luxury brand, a super limited edition. Several actresses in the production crew had already been eyeing it enviously for quite some time.
The butler, seeing Little Pudding struggling to store the card, kindly helped him put it inside. When he noticed Little Pudding still staring intently at the bag, he simply slung it over the dog’s back. Only then did Little Pudding sit down contentedly, looking completely at ease. The butler chuckled softly—this little pup wasn’t big, but his sense of ownership over his things was already this strong.
Lu Chenghan clicked his tongue. “What a little goblin—he actually knows it’s something valuable and wants to put it away?”
Noticing that the young master seemed to have something to discuss with Mr. Chu, the butler said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take Little Pudding home first.”
Lu Chenghan gave the pup a good ruffle on the head before saying, “Go ahead. Tell Xiao He that we should have dinner together in a few days.”
The butler nodded. “Understood, Young Master.” With that, he clipped the leash onto Little Pudding and led him out.
Young Master knew that Little Pudding would wrap up filming today and would likely finish work early. So, he had given special instructions this morning that if the shoot ended early, Little Pudding should be sent straight to the company.
Hearing that they were leaving, Zuo Ning became extremely excited. That was Lu Chenghe’s company—he had never been there before!
The whole way, Zuo Ning pressed against the car window, gazing outside. Although this was the city where he was born, Lu Chenghe lived far from where he had grown up—almost as if they were in the northern and southern parts of the city. So, he carefully memorized the route. If something happened in the future and he couldn’t ask for directions, at least he would still recognize the way.
When they arrived downstairs at Lu Chenghe’s company, Zuo Ning instinctively looked up. Maybe it was because of a dog’s perspective, but he found the building incredibly tall. His neck was sore from tilting his head back just to see the top.
The butler beside him said, “Little Pudding, you need to remember this place. This is where Young Master works. If you ever get lost, you can come here to find him.”
Even though there was no expectation that Little Pudding would actually understand, perhaps it was just a habit of dog owners to talk to their pets as if they could comprehend everything.
Clearly, this wasn’t the butler’s first time at Lu Chenghe’s company. When the receptionist saw him, she bowed politely in greeting. The butler, familiar with the place, confidently led him toward the private elevators and went straight up to Lu Chenghe’s office.
Inside the elevator, Zuo Ning could hear the receptionists whispering about him. They seemed to be debating whether he was President Lu’s dog or his mother’s. Just before the elevator doors closed, they appeared to reach a consensus—he must belong to President Lu’s mother.
Standing in the elevator, Zuo Ning couldn’t help but let out a huff. Hmph! He was Lu Chenghe’s! A bunch of ignorant humans!
Under the watchful gazes of a crowd, Zuo Ning held his head high and puffed out his chest, fully unleashing the commanding presence he had honed during his time on set. He was determined to carry himself like an international superstar. When he heard someone whisper in admiration, “What a handsome dog,” he finally gave a small wag of his tail, signaling his satisfaction.
The office door was gracefully pulled open by a beautiful secretary. The moment Zuo Ning caught sight of Lu Chenghe sitting behind his desk, he instantly broke free from the butler’s grasp. Like a missile, he launched himself toward Lu Chenghe with the force of a tiger pouncing on its prey, as if they hadn’t seen each other in centuries.
Lu Chenghe was completely unfazed by this kind of projectile attack. The moment he saw Little Pudding’s movement, he instinctively bent down and caught him in his arms.
Zuo Ning, visiting Lu Chenghe’s office for the first time, clung onto him while curiously glancing around. The office wasn’t as extravagant as he had imagined. The décor was simple yet elegant—nothing overly luxurious. Perhaps the paintings on the walls were valuable, but to Zuo Ning, they just looked like random splashes of paint. He had no idea what they were supposed to depict.
After briefly admiring the office, he quickly started pawing at the small bag strapped to his body.
Lu Chenghe assumed he was uncomfortable wearing it, so he helped remove the backpack and handed it to the butler.
But Zuo Ning immediately reached out and grabbed the strap with his paws. “Awoo!”
Lu Chenghe looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
The butler chuckled. “There’s something precious to Little Pudding inside that bag. He treasures it dearly—he won’t be at ease unless he carries it himself.”
Hearing this, Lu Chenghe chuckled and placed the bag back into Little Pudding’s paws. “Here, here. No one’s trying to take your treasure.”
Zuo Ning attempted to unzip the bag with his paws. Technically, he could hook his claws into the zipper and pull it open, but that would seem a little too smart. So, after pawing at it a couple of times in a show of struggle, Lu Chenghe took the hint and unzipped it for him.
Zuo Ning reached inside and fumbled around for a while before finally pulling out a card. He then placed it in Lu Chenghe’s hand. “Woof!” Here! I earned this! I’m a dog that can support his family now!
Lu Chenghe looked at the card that Little Pudding had just placed in his hand, a bit puzzled. “This… is for me?”
“Woof!” Yes, for you!
The butler chuckled from the side. “When Young Master gave that card to Little Pudding, he said it could buy a lot of meat. I’m not sure if Little Pudding actually understood.”
Lu Chenghe laughed. “So, you’re trying to exchange this card for meat?”
Hearing this, Zuo Ning immediately panicked. “Awoo! Awoo!” No! It’s not for meat—it’s for you!
Ugh, this language barrier is so frustrating! Anxious, Zuo Ning scratched his ear with a paw and pushed the card toward Lu Chenghe again.
Seeing how flustered Little Pudding was, Lu Chenghe couldn’t help but laugh. He scooped him up into his arms and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Is this a gift for me?”
Zuo Ning immediately let out an excited bark. “Woof!”
Lu Chenghe immediately laughed. His originally handsome yet aloof demeanor suddenly carried the feeling of ice and snow melting away. His smile was incredibly warm, making Zuo Ning’s heart feel all warm and fuzzy. Then, he foolishly parted his lips slightly, completely frozen by that smile.
Damn, my man looks ridiculously good when he smiles!
