When Zuo Ning got home, Lu Chenghe tossed him into the bathtub for a thorough scrub. Since he wasn’t that big yet, there was no need for a professional bathing machine—though Lu Chenghe had already bought one just in case. However, after witnessing the entire bathing process for the two black-backed dogs, he decided not to use that contraption on Little Pudding.
Being locked inside a box-like machine for a wash looked terrifying even to him, let alone for a dog that was naturally prone to insecurity. However, the drying function of the bathing machine was quite useful—without it, using a hairdryer bit by bit could easily lead to catching a cold.
After over an hour of effort, Lu Chenghe felt a great sense of accomplishment as he looked at the freshly cleaned dog. Without hesitation, he tossed him onto the bed. After getting used to it, he realized that having a little companion by his side every night before bed was quite nice.
Knowing that he could sleep on the bed tonight, Zuo Ning was overjoyed and immediately claimed half of it. He sprawled on the pillow and watched a new TV drama that Lu Chenghe had picked for him.
He had already finished watching the drama starring Lu family’s eldest brother’s boyfriend. Now, he was following a grand fantasy romance series. In the show, a little princess from the demon realm fell in love with the male lead, who possessed half-divine blood but had yet to awaken his powers. However, the male lead’s heart belonged to his “white moonlight”, the celestial goddess of the nine heavens. The classic love triangle of “you love me, but I love someone else” was cliché, but the high visual appeal of the cast made up for it. The celestial sisters in the show were absolutely stunning.
However, as he continued watching, something felt off in his stomach. A rumbling discomfort grew, making him feel like he had to go to the bathroom. Before he could get up from the bed, a sharp, tearing pain suddenly ripped through his abdomen. His entire body twisted in agony and his claws instinctively extended, directly shredding the bedsheet.
Lu Chenghe, fresh out of the shower, saw Little Pudding curled up into a ball on the bed. Amused, he walked over and stroked his fur. “Tired from playing? Why are you sleepy so early?”
Zuo Ning wanted to reach out with a paw to grab Lu Chenghe’s hand, but the cramping pain in his stomach made it impossible to lift his limbs. He could only look at him pitifully and whimper weakly, “Ying ying ying.” My stomach hurts so bad—I’m dying.
Noticing that Little Pudding’s expression was different from usual, Lu Chenghe’s face immediately lost its playful look. He frowned slightly. “What’s wrong?”
Seeing that Lu Chenghe had noticed his discomfort, Zuo Ning instinctively felt relieved. He curled up even tighter, hoping it would ease the pain. “Woo woo woo…” It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!
Zuo Ning wasn’t someone who couldn’t handle pain, but whether it was due to his new body or just that illnesses felt worse for dogs, the pain was unbearable.
Lu Chenghe saw the tears welling up in his eyes and reached out to gently touch his curled-up body. The moment his fingers made contact, Little Pudding trembled violently. Lu Chenghe immediately ordered the butler to call the vet. Worried that he might be cold, he carefully wrapped him in a blanket. Feeling both heartache and frustration, he sighed, “Serves you right for being greedy.”
Earlier that night, they had a barbecue. To accommodate the presence of a dog, Lou Jiu specifically had some skewers grilled without any seasoning. Normally, Little Pudding’s diet was strictly measured. Lu Chenghe had initially planned to give him just a few pieces, figuring he could eat more at home if he was still hungry. But the scent was too tempting. After a few bites, Little Pudding kept begging for more. Lu Chenghe gave in and fed him a few extra pieces—those must have been what upset his stomach.
Zuo Ning was in so much pain he wanted to howl. His claws repeatedly extended, scratching the blanket until the fabric started fraying. Seeing Lu Chenghe comforting him, he felt even more aggrieved. He wanted to tell him exactly where it hurt, but he couldn’t speak. He could only let out whimpering cries. Suddenly, a violent cramp hit his stomach. Before he could even get up, his mouth opened, and he vomited.
Seeing this, Lu Chenghe knew it was serious. He quickly tossed the soiled blanket to the floor and placed a thick, clean one underneath him. However, he insisted on keeping Little Pudding on the bed, worried that he might catch a cold and make his condition even worse.
Wen Ting arrived quickly after receiving the call. The butler, his expression grim, led him straight to the room. Wen Ting thought Little Pudding must be in serious condition. When he entered, he saw Lu Chenghe sitting on the bed with a cold expression, gently stroking the curled-up and slightly trembling Little Pudding. Immediately, he put down the medical kit and stepped forward.
Lu Chenghe briefly explained what had happened today. He was particularly detailed when it came to Little Pudding’s diet, even specifying exactly how many pieces of meat he had been fed that evening. Wen Ting nodded and reached out to press on Little Pudding’s abdomen. The moment he applied a bit of pressure, the little guy let out a miserable yelp.
Lu Chenghe’s face darkened even more, his eyes fixed intently on the vet’s every movement.
After a thorough examination, Wen Ting let out a sigh of relief. “It’s not too bad—just vomiting and no fever. Based on the vomit, it looks like gastritis rather than parvovirus. It was likely caused by improper eating or a cold abdomen.”
Lu Chenghe frowned. “Just because I fed him a few extra pieces of meat?” He was always careful about Little Pudding’s diet and would never overfeed him to the point of excess.
Wen Ting sighed helplessly. “It’s precisely because his diet has always been so meticulously controlled. The portion sizes have been too precise, so when he suddenly ate large chunks of meat—several pieces at once—it became hard to digest. Little Pudding is already big enough now; you should start giving him food that requires tearing and chewing. Otherwise, if he gets used to just biting twice and swallowing, his stomach won’t be able to handle anything slightly harder to digest.”
After the vet administered the medication, Little Pudding, who had been trembling all this time, gradually calmed down. Lu Chenghe finally let out a breath of relief. After all, he had raised it from the start, so there was an emotional bond. Seeing it suffer made his own heart ache.
Wen Ting left a box of gastrointestinal medicine and instructed, “For the next two days, feed him easily digestible food. He might be a bit sluggish, so let him rest properly. When dogs are sick, they can’t express their discomfort, so take extra care. It’d be good if you could spend more time with him. Also, be mindful of what he eats—since Little Pudding doesn’t eat regular dog food, he should at least chew his food thoroughly before swallowing.”
Lu Chenghe nodded at the advice. The butler also sighed in relief. “Thank you so much for coming over so late.”
Wen Ting smiled. “As long as Little Pudding is okay.” That’s why he always thought Chinese rural dogs were the best—they were easy to raise as long as they were fed, without any of this fussiness.
The servants cleaned and disinfected the room. By the time everything was settled, it was already past midnight. Lu Chenghe looked at Little Pudding who had taken his medicine and fallen asleep. He gently stroked its ear. “You really know how to make trouble.”
The little ear twitched in Lu Chenghe’s hand but didn’t wake up—it was sleeping deeply. Worried that its condition might worsen overnight, Lu Chenghe carried it up onto the bed.
Perhaps the medication had some calming effect, as Zuo Ning slept straight through until morning. When he woke up, his stomach still felt a little uncomfortable, but nothing like the pain from last night. However, his whole body was weak and his head felt foggy. Opening his eyes, he saw the bed was empty and figured Lu Chenghe had already gone to work. Too lazy to get up, he just went back to sleep.
Lu Chenghe returned from his morning run and, not seeing Little Pudding downstairs, went back to his room to find him still sleeping. Helplessly, he walked over and scooped him up. As expected, the moment he got close, Little Pudding opened his eyes. Lu Chenghe chuckled, “Still not getting up even after waking up? You’re getting lazier and lazier.”
Zuo Ning weakly lifted a paw and patted Lu Chenghe’s chest. “Awoo.” I’m sick. You won’t even let a dog sleep in? Bad review.
Lu Chenghe held onto that paw, gently rubbing his stomach. Feeling that it wasn’t as tense or painful as last night, he figured the worst had passed. Satisfied, he carried him downstairs.
He fed Little Pudding half a bowl of shredded meat porridge mixed with some nutritional powder and medicine. Seeing that the pup still had an appetite—though he seemed lethargic—Lu Chenghe felt relieved. As long as food was brought to his mouth, he would eat. However, Lu Chenghe didn’t dare feed him too much at once and instructed the butler to give him small portions periodically rather than all at once.
After witnessing Lu Chenghe’s reaction to Little Pudding’s illness the night before, the butler no longer needed to guess the pup’s place in his master’s heart. Usually, when the young master teased and played with Little Pudding, it could be brushed off as mere affection. But after last night, the butler knew—Lu Chenghe truly cared about it. Not that it was surprising; this little guy was naturally lovable. Even without orders, he would have taken good care of it.
As he held Little Pudding while seeing Lu Chenghe off to work, the butler sighed, “If only you showed this level of attentiveness to women, young master, you wouldn’t still be single.”
Though he was still sore and weak, Zuo Ning mustered the strength to slap the butler with a paw. Lu Chenghe was his—who needed a girlfriend?!
Zuo Ning originally thought he’d recover in just a couple of days and be back to his lively self. Instead, he remained weak for almost an entire week. It wasn’t exactly painful, just a persistent lack of energy. If not for his gradually improving appetite, he would have started worrying that he had some kind of terminal illness.
Lu Chenghe, seeing that he had no energy and sometimes even dozed off in the middle of eating, grew concerned and called Wen Ting over a few more times. However, every examination showed that there was nothing wrong—not even a trace of gastritis anymore.
Zuo Ning whined as he sprawled across Lu Chenghe’s lap. Ever since getting sick, he felt like he had become more and more delicate, which was completely unmanly. But lying on Lu Chenghe felt too good—so comfortable he couldn’t resist.
When Lu Chenghe got up to pour himself a glass of water, he suddenly felt a resistance. Looking down, he saw a paw hooked onto the pocket of his pants. He reached out to pry it off, but the little rascal doubled down, clinging with both paws.
“Let go.”
Zuo Ning: “Awoo.” No.
Lu Chenghe pinched his ear. “Let go, I’m just getting a glass of water. I’ll be right back.”
Zuo Ning refused to budge. “Woo woo woo.” No way.
Lu Chenghe chuckled and suddenly bent down, reaching for Little Pudding’s mouth. “Come on, let me check your teeth.”
Instantly, both paws dropped as Zuo Ning covered his face.
Ever since he got sick, he had been so sleepy all the time that he slacked off on brushing his teeth. Now that he was finally feeling better, he had resumed his daily brushing routine. That was when Lu Chenghe noticed—one of his teeth was loose. It seemed like he was about to start teething.
It appeared that Little Pudding himself was aware of it. The moment anyone mentioned checking his teeth, he would instinctively hide—without fail.
Realizing that Little Pudding was simply going through a teething phase, Lu Chenghe finally relaxed. It made sense—recovering from gastritis while also teething probably made him weaker for longer. Now that he knew the reason, he was much less worried. He had truly spent a lot of time and effort worrying about this little one lately.
Even Zuo Ning himself assumed that his lingering weakness was due to teething. Although he had never heard of dogs getting weak while teething, he was determined to eat well so his new teeth would grow strong. But as he focused entirely on food and Lu Chenghe every day, he failed to notice the subtle changes happening to his own body.
Transformation???