Moonlit: Thank you, aki, for the ko-fi~
Lu Chenghe stood coldly behind the floor-to-ceiling window, his tall figure casting a shadow over the small courtyard on the balcony.
Zuo Ning had his paws on the edge of the hot spring pool, blinking his eyes as he looked at Lu Chenghe inside the house, who had no expression on his face. He wanted to say that he accidentally slipped in, but he didn’t know if Lu Chenghe would believe him.
Lu Chenghe walked through the already open balcony door and squatted down to look at the dog, whose fur was sticking to his head because he was soaked, making his eyes look even bigger and rounder. He poked his nose with a finger and said, “You don’t want to come out and play with me anymore, do you?”
Zuo Ning: “Awooo…” I really did slip in accidentally, please believe me.
Lu Chenghe reached into the pool to feel the water temperature. Compared to the hot spring water that was freshly filled in the afternoon, it was a bit cooler now. He turned to look at the pitiful Little Pudding and said, “Go ahead and play. Stay until you’ve had enough.”
Hearing this, Zuo Ning instantly cowered, quickly extending his paw to Lu Chenghe’s hand: “Woo…” Please don’t be angry.
Lu Chenghe held the wet paw, his palm warm. But in just a short moment after leaving the water, the paw had become cold again. So he put Zuo Ning’s paw back into the water and said, “Go on, play until you’re done. You’re already wet anyway.”
Zuo Ning suspiciously looked at Lu Chenghe. Was he really so easygoing? Not angry? Why did it feel like the calm before the storm? But since Lu Chenghe had already said so, he naturally had to have as much fun as possible. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it if he didn’t fully enjoy the hot spring and later got a lecture.
So, Lu Chenghe watched as Little Pudding really went off to play and was so amused that he laughed. He didn’t bother to manage him, returning to the room to turn on the TV to the news channel, and then took a laptop to the bed to check emails.
Zuo Ning sighed comfortably, enjoying the relaxation brought by the hot spring while paddling his limbs. As a human, he hadn’t enjoyed such comforts; now, as a dog, he was enjoying all the things he hadn’t as a human. Seeing a layer of snow accumulated by the edge of the pool, Zuo Ning pressed a plum blossom paw print onto it. Looking at the small paw print, Zuo Ning felt it looked a bit lonely, so he extended his sharp claw and wrote Lu Chenghe’s name next to it.
Seeing the small paw print next to Lu Chenghe’s name, Zuo Ning was satisfied and smiled. Then he leaned back, paddling away with his dog paws.
As soon as he got out of the pool, a chill hit him. Zuo Ning vigorously shook his fur, removing the excess water, and then ran back to the room, wet and dripping.
Lu Chenghe had already laid a large towel on the floor. Seeing that Little Pudding had played enough, he patted the towel on the floor and said, “Come here.”
Wrapping the whole dog in the towel and seeing that silly smile on his face, Lu Chenghe rubbed his fur. “Had enough fun?”
Zuo Ning: “Woof!” Enough, enough~
Lu Chenghe smiled, turned on the prepared hairdryer, and began to dry his fur bit by bit.
Drying a person’s hair takes just a few minutes. Drying the fur of a dog, especially a medium-sized dog, is a major project. Lu Chenghe thought that in the future, his resorts could add a facility—a pet dryer, at the very least.
After using the hairdryer until it was practically scorching hot, the dog’s fur was finally about 80% dry. Seeing that Little Pudding was ready to lift his paw and get on the bed, Lu Chenghe immediately blocked him: “Stand still and don’t move.”
Zuo Ning tilted his head to look at Lu Chenghe, then looked down at himself. He had obediently sat still for half an hour to get his fur dried, so why wasn’t he allowed on the bed?
Lu Chenghe pulled out a paper bowl from somewhere, containing three pieces of richly flavored, super-tender boiled lamb, and placed it on Zuo Ning’s head.
Zuo Ning gave Lu Chenghe a deadpan look—he knew it! Every time with this trick; couldn’t there be a bit more creativity?
Lu Chenghe leaned against the bed, continuing to look at his emails, while a white dog sat miserably nearby, not daring to move, with a bowl of food on his head—a classic scene of doggy torture.
Zuo Ning couldn’t help but whimper twice, reminding Lu Chenghe to look at him instead of being engrossed in his emails. The lamb, exuding a hotpot aroma, constantly tempted his senses. If he ran off with the bowl and ate the meat now, would he become a hotpot ingredient tomorrow?
Lu Chenghe glanced back at him: “No noise. Stay quiet.”
“Wooo…” He really did slip accidentally, not on purpose. He didn’t accept this punishment!
“Quiet.”
“Aoooo…” So tired, please let me eat the meat and then sleep.
“Don’t make noise.”
“Awooo.” You’re abusing the dog; this kind of punishment is wrong.
“……”
“Oooo…” I won’t eat the meat. Can I sleep now?
“……”
“Aooo…” Hehe, love me one more time, okay?
Until Lu Chenghe finished annotating several important documents, he noticed that the dog had been quiet for a while. When he turned his head, he saw Little Pudding squatting beside him, eyes closed and dozing off. Even though he was so sleepy that he couldn’t keep his eyes open, he didn’t dare to let himself fall asleep. Whenever he felt the thing on his head becoming unstable, he would immediately open his eyes alertly, then the next second, he would close them again, struggling to stay awake.
Seeing this, Lu Chenghe couldn’t help but laugh. He removed the bowl from Little Pudding’s head, and immediately, Little Pudding opened his eyes and looked at him. Lu Chenghe rubbed his neck and said, “Alright, sleep now.”
Zuo Ning, extremely exhausted, saw that the punishment was finally over. He closed his eyes and collapsed onto Lu Chenghe, completely worn out.
Lu Chenghe glanced at the time. Punishing him for more than half an hour. Little Pudding sitting obediently for so long really wasn’t easy. He hugged Little Pudding into the quilt and rubbed his head. He initially only intended to punish him for about ten minutes, but he forgot about it after Little Pudding stopped making noise. It truly made things difficult for Little Pudding, who sat quietly for so long.
He kneaded his neck and, seeing him hum in comfort, couldn’t help but smile. Noticing that Little Pudding was about to fall asleep, Lu Chenghe got up, closed the balcony door, drew the curtains, and turned off the lights. But when he turned around, he saw Little Pudding, who had just been nearly asleep, crawling forward with his eyes closed, heading toward the bowl with the meat. Lu Chenghe couldn’t help but laugh, gently pushing him back into the quilt.
Taking the bowl away and throwing it out, Lu Chenghe got into bed and held Little Pudding in his arms, rubbing his fur: “In the future, be obedient and don’t play with water recklessly, got it?”
Even though he hadn’t stolen the meat and was too tired to open his eyes, Zuo Ning still responded, “Awoo.”
Lu Chenghe smiled, “Alright, sleep now.”
The snow outside continued to fall intermittently, accumulating more and more on the name and paw print by the hot spring pool until they were completely covered.
In the dead of winter, the days are darker. Because they were out having fun, Lu Chenghe hadn’t planned to take Little Pudding for a morning run. If it were summer, that quiet bamboo path would be perfect for a morning jog, but the snowdrifts were probably deep with so much snow outside now.
It was a rare occasion for Lu Chenghe to sleep in with Little Pudding. Seeing the dog’s fur all fluffed up after a night’s sleep, Lu Chenghe couldn’t help but laugh. He petted the dog’s fur, wiped him down with a damp towel, and brushed him from head to toe before opening the door: “Go play, but don’t run outside.”
Zuo Ning happily responded and trotted out of the bedroom.
This standalone villa had only one floor, with four rooms spaced far apart, two on each side. Each room had a bath, so they occupied a lot of space. On the way to the restaurant, they passed through a Japanese-style courtyard with a larger bath. Yesterday, when he passed by, the bath was empty, but now it was filled with milky hot spring water. Amidst the snow, the steam rising from the bath, with the bamboo forest as a backdrop, looked like a beautiful painting.
Lou Jiu, who had already gotten up, saw Little Pudding staring at the courtyard and smiled, “You can’t go there. If you run off to play, your owner will worry when he can’t find you.”
Zuo Ning turned to look at Lou Jiu, who walked over with a smile and squatted down, grinning: “Woof!” Good morning.
Lou Jiu laughed, “Do you want something tasty? While your owner isn’t out yet, I’ll secretly give you something to eat. He won’t know.”
Zuo Ning tilted his head at him, then ran off. Of course, he wanted something tasty, but eating something given by someone else without Lu Chenghe’s permission would embarrass Lu Chenghe. He would rather find a way to steal food from Lu Chenghe himself than accept food from others. Even as a dog, he wanted to be a dog with self-respect and dignity!
Lou Jiu saw Little Pudding run off but didn’t chase him. The courtyard was fenced, and the house doors were all closed, so he couldn’t get out. Seeing Little Pudding playing, he figured Lu Chenghe must be awake. He then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Since childhood, Lou Jiu has enjoyed the process of making food, combining ingredients to make them look and taste good. He always thought it was magical. While others dreamed of fantastical futures, he had already decided to become a chef. But in families like theirs, becoming a chef was seen as unworthy and embarrassing since everyone had multiple chefs at home, and to the children, chefs were similar to servants.
Only Shang Fan hadn’t mocked his dream, even saying he would open a restaurant for him when they grew up.
Lou Jiu cut the fresh ingredients delivered that morning and put them into the boiling beef bone broth, filling the restaurant with a rich aroma. Scratching at the pebbles outside, Zuo Ning sniffed the air, wishing he could taste what he smelled.
Suddenly, Zuo Ning spotted a pale, translucent white stone with a few red streaks, making it very pretty. The key was that the stone was perfectly heart-shaped, with smooth edges.
Zuo Ning quickly used his paw to pull the stone from the layered pebbles and carefully moved it to the poolside, washing it clean with the hot spring water.
Looking up, Zuo Ning saw Lu Chenghe walking toward the restaurant. After hesitating over the stone for a couple of seconds, he washed it a few more times, then bit down on it and ran toward Lu Chenghe with all four paws.
Little Pudding ran over as soon as Lu Chenghe sat down at the table. Lou Jiu was still talking: “Does your Little Pudding eat noodles? If so, I’ll cook him a bowl with beef bone broth and no seasoning.”
Lu Chenghe nodded, “Sure, cook him a bowl.”
Zuo Ning stood up, placed his paws on Lu Chenghe’s thigh, and pawed at his hand. “Aooo…”
Lu Chenghe patted his head twice and noticed something in his mouth. He reached out and received a heart-shaped stone that Little Pudding placed in his hand.
Lu Chenghe was slightly startled, then smiled, “Is this for me?”
Zuo Ning wagged his tail. “Woof!” Yes, it’s for you. Are you touched?
Lou Jiu curiously walked over and looked. “That’s a pretty stone. Is this the first gift you’ve received that was a stone, and it’s even heart-shaped? Does your dog recognize shapes?”
Lu Chenghe smiled. “A coincidence, perhaps.”
Zuo Ning barked twice quickly. “Woof! Woof!” Not a coincidence. It’s my declaration!
Lu Chenghe pinched his ear and pulled a few napkins from the table to dry his paws. ” Have you been playing with water again?”
Zuo Ning: “Aooo…” No, I was washing the stone for you. I couldn’t bear having it in my mouth without cleaning it.
Seeing that he had wet Lu Chenghe’s pants, he guiltily tried to wipe them with his paw.
Lu Chenghe lightly slapped his paw away: “Look, you got your paw so dirty in just a short time.”
Zuo Ning whimpered, got down from Lu Chenghe’s lap, and saw that Lu Chenghe put the stone directly into his jacket pocket, which made him smile with satisfaction.
Lou Jiu brought over a bowl of noodles and handed it to Lu Chenghe: “Are you going to feed him or let him eat by himself? Dogs don’t usually know how to eat noodles, right?”
Lu Chenghe broke the noodles into smaller pieces and let them cool for a bit, then placed them on a nearby table, patting the chair: “Get up here.”
Zuo Ning easily jumped up and started eating the noodles.
Though it’s a bit challenging for a dog with a big mouth to eat noodle-type food, Zuo Ning managed by slurping. While the noodles had little taste, the beef bone broth was quite fragrant. After eating a lot of specially formulated dog food, it’s nice to occasionally have something different.
The two people who seemed to have had another drinking session in the courtyard after the event yesterday woke up from their hangover around noon. After soaking in the hot spring to clear their heads, Lou Jiu casually made some dishes for lunch. Once the snow stopped, they headed down the mountain.
But the snow had fallen all night, making the snow quite thick. Zuo Ning stepped into it, burying almost half his paw. Though walking was a bit strenuous, he didn’t plan to complain. Making a pit with each step was quite fun.
However, Lu Chenghe always did the opposite of what Zuo Ning wanted. When Zuo Ning wanted to walk on his own, Lu Chenghe insisted on carrying him.
Being almost princess-carried by Lu Chenghe, Zuo Ning tried to change his position several times, only to be firmly restrained and scolded by Lu Chenghe: “Move again, and I’ll throw you down from here.”
Zuo Ning stuck out his tongue to lick his mouth, then turned his head. Fine, do whatever you want. You’re the boss; you call the shots.
When they reached the resort’s lobby, their respective drivers were already waiting. Nie Yong waved at them. “Let’s call it a day. In a couple of days, I’m going to Europe with my mom and probably won’t be back until after the New Year. Let’s meet up again when I return.”
Shen Tao, who came with Nie Yong, naturally left with him. After they both left, Lou Jiu reached out to pat the dog still being held by Lu Chenghe, “Goodbye, Little Pudding. Come, wave goodbye to me.”
Zuo Ning turned to look at Lu Chenghe. Seeing no reaction from him, he thought for a moment and then raised a paw: “Awoo.” Goodbye.
Lou Jiu chuckled, “Little Pudding is getting smarter and smarter. Chenghe, in the future, save one of Little Pudding’s pups for me. A puppy with his genes must be very clever.”
Zuo Ning, who had been waving his paw, instantly retracted it. What puppy? Don’t even think about it in this lifetime!
Once everyone had left, Lu Chenghe finally carried Little Pudding into the car. Thinking about going home, Zuo Ning felt much more at ease.
Lu Chenghe petted Little Pudding’s head and asked, “Do you want to have puppies?”
Zuo Ning looked out the window, not turning his head. Having puppies? Forget about it—he had no intention of really mating with a dog.
Seeing his silent resistance, Lu Chenghe laughed, “Alright, no puppies. Come here.”
Zuo Ning glanced at him but didn’t move.
Lu Chenghe pulled out a piece of beef jerky from his pocket. “Want to eat this?”
He hadn’t even finished the question before the previously reluctant Little Pudding rushed over. Lu Chenghe tapped his head with the jerky. “Look at how fast you run when there’s food involved. Such a greedy little dog.”
Zuo Ning climbed onto Lu Chenghe’s lap and sat down, watching as Lu Chenghe opened the jerky’s packaging. He took a big bite.
When the man and dog arrived home, they saw Lu Chenghan, Lu Chenghe’s elder brother, sitting on the sofa, with Lu Nianqi standing beside him, seemingly being examined.
Lu Chenghan glanced at the returning pair and turned to Lu Nianqi. “You’ve almost finished your courses, and we’ve told you what you need to know about the Lu family. But some things can’t be accomplished overnight and depend on daily accumulation. Next week, move into your own house. Every month, the Lu family gives each child an allowance. If you want to start a business after graduation, you can get a startup fund. If not, you can pursue whatever you like. Your return must have made Third Master in the afterlife very happy, but he’d be even happier if you live a fulfilling life. How you walk your future path is up to you. Alright, go rest in your room. We’ll eat together later.”
Lu Nianqi nodded, called out “Second Brother,” and turned back to his room. He had initially thought he would stay in this home until the New Year, but it didn’t matter. It was something he had mentally prepared for; it was just happening sooner. However, he would miss and regret not being able to see his second brother running in the mornings from the window anymore.
Lu Chenghe instructed the butler to give Little Pudding some water, handed the luggage to the maid, and looked at Lu Chenghan. “What’s going on?” Although it was inevitable for Lu Nianqi to move out eventually, his mother had already discussed it with him. Since it was his first year back with the Lu family, it was decided to let the boy stay through the New Year before officially moving out. But now that his older brother had said so, he wouldn’t argue further.
Lu Chenghan gestured to Little Pudding: “Come here, Little Pudding.”
Zuo Ning glanced at Lu Chenghe. Seeing him nod, he jumped onto the sofa and sat next to Lu Chenghan.
Hugging the grown dog and stroking his fur, Lu Chenghan said, “That child’s mind is quite sensitive. If he can move out earlier, let him move out earlier. I know you mean well by wanting to keep him longer and teach him more, but we’ve fulfilled our responsibility. That’s enough.”
Zuo Ning glanced in the direction of Lu Nianqi’s room. So, he was really moving out? After all the classes they took together and hearing about his thoughts, some feelings existed. After moving out, they might only see each other during the holidays.
While Zuo Ning was lamenting losing another playmate, he heard Lu Chenghan say, “Lend me your dog.”
Zuo Ning’s fur instantly stood on end. Why did this sound so familiar? But he acted faster than he thought, breaking free from Lu Chenghan’s grasp and running to sit in Lu Chenghe’s lap, pressing his back firmly against Lu Chenghe’s chest before finally relaxing.
Lu Chenghe promptly refused. “No.”
Lu Chenghan smiled, “This time, it’s not for a movie, and it won’t take long—just a day. I’ll take him out in the morning and return him to you in the evening, guaranteed without a single hair missing.”
Lu Chenghe asked, “For what?”
Lu Chenghan replied with a smile, “Chu Hang took on a reality show, and the episode to be filmed is dog-themed. I don’t know the exact filming details, but it probably involves playing with their dogs. Recently, the new movie Little Pudding starred in has been sweeping the box office and becoming a dark-horse hit. With its increasing popularity, having Little Pudding on the reality show would boost Chu Hang’s screen time and topic discussion.”
Zuo Ning sighed in relief upon hearing this. A reality show—these were among the hottest variety shows. Although the quality varied greatly, given Chu Hang’s popularity, it would definitely be one of the most popular ones. He had heard that reality shows were full of scripts and routines. If possible, he would love to see firsthand how they were filmed.
But Lu Chenghe, never one to be on the same page as him, continued to refuse without a second thought.
While it wasn’t impossible for Lu Chenghan to find another dog—given Chu Hang’s popularity in the industry, finding a smart dog was easy—Little Pudding was both smart and attention-grabbing, making it hard to let go. “Give me a reason for your refusal.”
Lu Chenghe, carrying Little Pudding, headed upstairs without looking back, saying, “I’m afraid someone will form a team to steal the dog.”
Lu Chenghan was full of question marks, wondering if that really was his brother who just said that.
