After returning from a vacation in Shucheng, Xiao Yan was like a big wolfhound with a full stomach, too lazy to even wag his tail. Poor Shen Jingmo was suffering from back pain.
It can be said that Xiao Yan just has a childish temper. When he and Duan Yelin started drinking, it was unclear who provoked whom first. Anyway, when they returned to the room drunkenly, took off their clothes, and went to bed, their movements were still orderly.
Shen Jingmo could only smell the strong smell of alcohol. He refused twice, but Xiao Yan pitifully said that he had drunk tonic wine and that if no one cared about him anymore, he would just suffocate to death. Afterwards, Shen Jingmo was completely naked, and it was too much effort for him to even shout.
The next day, the sun rose early, and the drunk Xiao Yan got up earlier, feeling refreshed. Shen Jingmo was worried that he would hurt his body, so he asked Xu Hang to prescribe some medicine to replenish his vitality. Upon hearing this, Xu Hang grabbed all the bitter ginseng, coptis chinensis, and gentian grass in the medical house and sent them to Xiao Yan.
After just one sip, Xiao Yan felt as if he had been pierced from his skull to the soles of his feet. He packed up his things and quickly took his men back to Shanghai without wasting even a minute.
On this day, Shen Jingmo was choosing a dog in a foreign dog shop in the flower market.
Xiao Yan’s idea was to train a big dog for Shen Jingmo to take out and play with so that he could learn the route, and if there were any bad guys, he could let the dog bite them.
Shen Jingmo couldn’t persuade him, so he went to pick with Liao Qin. He couldn’t see, so he could only listen to the store owner’s introduction.
“This poodle is small and cute but not very friendly to people; that Pekingese has a good coat but is a little fierce; and this one…”
After listening for a while, Shen Jingmo said, “En… is there a bigger one?” He thought that since it was going to be used to guard the house, a bigger one would be better.
“Yes, there is,” The store owner looked at Shen Jingmo’s weak appearance and said tactfully, “This big dog is aggressive and has a bad temper. Sir, you are so gentle and polite, I am afraid you can’t control it.”
As if knowing that someone was saying something bad about it, the big black dog in the corner howled in displeasure.
Shen Jingmo wanted to laugh: “The dog even has a temper?”
“Yes, he is cute and awkward and needs to be coaxed. He is usually very domineering. Other dogs in the store listen to him. Strangers usually stay away from him. When other customers come, he won’t even look at them…”
As Shen Jingmo listened, he felt that the dog’s temperament was a bit like that of a human, so he reached out to touch it. Liao Qin and the store owner were nervous and worried that he would be bitten, but the big black dog squatted down, put its head under Shen Jingmo’s hand, and wagged its tail, allowing him to touch it.
“What’s so scary about it? Isn’t it quite well-behaved?” Shen Jingmo didn’t know the expressions of the store owner and Liao Qin. He only knew that the dog’s licking made him feel itchy. “I’ll take him.”
So, Shen Jingmo led the big black dog back home. Who would have thought that the dog was well-behaved and silent along the way, but when it saw Xiao Yan, the dog’s hair suddenly stood up, and it barked non-stop, grinned, and looked extremely jealous?
“What the hell?” Xiao Yan stared at the dog with displeasure.
“Puff—” Shen Jingmo had been wondering who this dog resembled all along the way, and only when he met Xiao Yan did he remember that this dog’s temper was exactly the same as Xiao Yan’s.
Xiao Yan was very dissatisfied with Liao Qin: “I asked you to help him choose a dog, why did you pick one like this?”
Liao Qin stepped forward and said, “Ghost Lord, Mr. Shen likes this dog…”
Xiao Yan covered Liao Qin’s mouth: “No, he doesn’t like it.”
“……”
Shen Jingmo clapped his hands, and the big black dog jumped to his side. He hugged the dog’s neck and asked in a wifely tone, “Can’t we really keep it?”
Those eyes were already dull as if they were in violation of the rules, and the sight of the man and the dog groaning in each other’s arms was completely aimed at Xiao Yan’s weak spot.
He pulled Shen Jingmo up helplessly: “Keep, keep, keep…” He kicked the dog again and told it to squat on the side. The big black dog kept biting his trouser leg and wouldn’t let go.
Shen Jingmo thought for a moment and said, “Let’s give it a name.”
Xiao Yan glanced at it and said, “Meiqiu[mfn]Charcoal briquette[/mfn].” It’s a vivid and memorable name.
The big black dog wanted to protest, but Shen Jingmo nodded: “Meiqiu, alright, we will call it Meiqiu.”
Meiqiu whimpered and accepted it helplessly.
From that point forward, whenever Shen Jingmo went out, not only did Liao Qin accompany him, but a fierce dog also led the way.
After going to the church, Shen Jingmo delivered some toys to the children in the orphanage. The way back was not far, so Liao Qin called two rickshaws. The people sat on the rickshaws while the dogs ran beside them.
The driver ran to the corner. The road was narrow, and he saw another rickshaw coming towards him. There were two women dressed in perfume and rouge in the ride.
The driver ran to the corner. The road was narrow and he saw another rickshaw coming from the opposite direction. There were two women in the rickshaw who were dressed in perfume and red.
The two rickshaws collided, and the dog almost collided with the one on the opposite side. But they just paused for a moment, changed the angle, and passed by each other.
“Heh, as soon as I came out, I saw the blind man selling his ass.” A woman in a pink cheongsam in the rickshaw said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft and waved her handkerchief in an unlucky manner.
Liao Qin stared at Shen Jingmo nervously, but he didn’t change his expression at all, as if he didn’t hear anything.
But Meiqiu heard it, and the rickshaw continued to run. After turning, Shen Jingmo suddenly heard a frightened woman’s scream from behind, his shoulders shook, and he asked Liao Qin, “What happened?”
Liao Qin tilted his head and saw Meiqiu happily chasing after them with a large piece of pink cheongsam fabric in its mouth.
So he raised his eyebrows and replied, “It’s nothing.”
There will always be many women in this world who are fascinated by men. A man like Xiao Yan is hard to come by, and he is like the first sip of nectar on the branches in the new spring, attracting bees and butterflies to rush up desperately.
The more people come, the more they encounter obstacles. Xiao Yan, with the spirit of showing no mercy if he can beat the enemy away, has basically mastered the skill of being able to frighten ghosts.
Those injured young girls would naturally ask around unwillingly, and after asking around so much, they would naturally know about Shen Jingmo’s existence.
If they can’t afford to offend the King of Hell, just bully the little ghosts. They don’t dare to use force, so they can only vent their anger with words.
At first, Shen Jingmo felt aggrieved, but after a while, he felt that it was nothing. He always thought positively. If the price of meeting Xiao Yan in the second half of his life was to lose his eyes, then compared with the light, a few insults from irrelevant people were really not worth mentioning.
But his indifference has a different meaning in the eyes of others.
Xiao Yan had a new harmonica made for him. Since Shen Jingmo couldn’t see it, he simply omitted all those extravagant and useless patterns and used only the best materials. What he needed was a clear sound and an excellent feel.
As soon as he stepped over the threshold of the home, he heard Liao Qin asking Shen Jingmo, “Mr. Shen, are you really prepared to spend your whole life with Ghost Master?”
He braked.
Shen Jingmo paused while wiping the harmonica and asked, “Do I look insincere?”
“That’s not the case,” Liao Qin thought for a moment. Since he had started asking, he might as well finish the question. “I know you came to ask Ghost Master for help in the first place because of Mr. Xu. If it wasn’t Ghost Master who could help, but some Buddha or God… would you have agreed?”
Shen Jingmo was not good at lying, so he answered honestly, “Maybe.”
Xiao Yan was somewhat hesitant to cross this threshold.
He thought he was a little mean because he and Xu Hang plotted against Shen Jingmo to get him into a trap. It was because it was not glorious here that he treated him doubly well, spoiling him to no end, as if no one else could give Shen Jingmo a better life.
But people are greedy, the more they give, the more they want in return. For example, he only has Shen Jingmo in his eyes and heart, and he also wants Shen Jingmo to see him as unique, as deep as a brand engraved on his bones.
Xiao Yan felt unhappy and was about to leave when he heard Shen Jingmo continue talking.
“At that time, Xiao Hang was in trouble because of me, so how could I not save him? I would ask for help even if it were some demon or devil. This is true, but…” Even though he couldn’t see, he still faced Liao Qin with respect. “But fortunately, it wasn’t someone else, but him.”
Meiqiu rolled around on the ground, and when no one paid attention to it, it would rub against Shen Jingmo’s legs from time to time.
“There were so many dogs in the foreign dog shop. If I had brought back another dog, I might not have felt bad about it. But God made Meiqiu appear in front of me. Even though I can’t see it, it doesn’t prevent me from having a connection with it either. The same goes for Xiao Yan.”
Liao Qin widened his eyes slightly. He rarely heard Shen Jingmo speak out his true feelings.
Shen Jingmo bit his lower lip. “Fortunately, I am telling you this. I would not be able to say it in front of him. I am a timid and easily influenced person. I easily trust others and am also easily fooled. But how can we make assumptions when we’re alive? If I had met someone else, what would I be like now? Well… don’t ask me, I don’t know either. Really. I only know that at this moment I’m very glad that that person was Xiao Yan.”
After hearing this, Liao Qin rubbed his head, and suddenly he understood. He smiled foolishly and said, “That’s good. I was overthinking it. Mr. Shen really sees things clearly.”
Outside the door, Xiao Yan’s gloomy expression disappeared, and the corners of his mouth almost reached behind his ears.
There were only two consequences of Ghost Master’s happiness. One was that Meiqiu had more bones to chew on, and the other was that Shen Jingmo slept longer.
But no matter how many bones Xiao Yan gave Meiqiu, it only recognized Shen Jingmo as its master. It only knew that after the door closed, its master made a crying sound and begged for mercy so weakly, he must have been bullied, so it scratched the door and barked desperately.
The door opened after a long time, Shen Jingmo’s eyes were red. Meiqiu barked at Xiao Yan rudely and got into Shen Jingmo’s arms to rub against him.
Xiao Yan looked at Meiqiu, who occupied his position, with a dark face: “Do you think it might be in heat, barking like that every single day?”
Shen Jingmo asked seriously, “What should we do then?”
“Let’s castrate him,” Xiao Yan stared at Meiqiu, “So that there will be no more trouble.”
Meiqiu felt a chill and kicked Xiao Yan’s lower body with its hind legs, causing Xiao Yan to shiver in pain.
Shen Jingmo hugged Meiqiu like a baby, turned around, and said to Xiao Yan with his back to him, “How can that be?! If…if it’s really… even if it’s really in heat, then it’s still much more obedient than you. It’s just barking, not like you, who’s so… so…”
The more he talks, the more embarrassed he feels.
Xiao Yan saw his red earlobes and put his hands around them, saying lazily, “I don’t care if he’s in heat or not, but since you want to keep him, you’ll always be in charge of my heat in the future.”
