Looking at the little thing holding onto his leg tightly, Lu Chenghe had no choice but to use force to pull it off and put it into the steward's arms. Seeing that he was going to leave, the little thing went as far as whining, making incomparably pitiful sounds as if it was being abandoned. This made Lu Chenghe turn around and pause. Looking at those wet eyes, Lu Chenghe suddenly asked the steward: "What does it do when I'm not at home?"
The steward said: "Most of the time, it sleeps in its kennel and sometimes, it goes out for a stroll. If it gets hungry, it will go eat by itself. It is almost never noisy and is very well behaved."
Looking at the little thing who was trying hard to reach his body with its paws despite being in the steward's arms, Lu Chenghe's heart couldn't help but soften. Reaching out to rub its head: "Behave and stay at home. Be obedient."
There has to be a limit to selling obedience. It was okay to stick to people, but being too sticky could annoy people. Especially since he has been with Lu Chenghe for a few days, feelings always had to be established slowly. The difference in race doomed his relationship with Lu Chenghe to being destined to meet but not fated to be together [1], but even then, he still wanted to be Lu Chenghe's most beloved and most irreplaceable dog!
Thus, when Zuo Ning heard Lu Chenghe's words, he only anxiously stared at him and didn't continue to be noisy.
Lu Chenghe definitely couldn't bring a dog to the company. Thinking that when he was away, the steward wouldn't arbitrarily play with it, he then said: "Play something for it to watch or find some games for it to play."
Seeing how meticulous Lu Chenghe was being toward Little Pudding, the steward did not show a surprised expression and instead very calmly said: "Yes, young master."
Only when Lu Chenghe's car drove out of sight did Zuo Ning let out a grumble, the dog's entire body was motionless in the steward's arms. It was so difficult to meet someone who made his heart beat faster, but he despairingly found out that they could not be together in this life. What kind of situation was sadder than this?
Once again, he returned to his spot in the living room. Zuo Ning smoothed out his somewhat messy fur and drooped his tail down before returning to his two-story kennel.
The kennel was full of soft padding. On the first floor, there was an automatic water fountain, a toilet, and a little bed with a pile of toys on top. The entire second floor was full of sleeping cushions and there was also a small window.
The kennel was made according to the size of a Samoyed after growing up so it was very large, forcing the maid to stoop down and enter to clean it. So for Zuo Ning at this time, the rooms were definitely large enough and the privacy was very good as if the small window was closed, anything he does on the second floor couldn't be seen by others.
Therefore, Zuo Ning stayed on the second floor and never went out, making the steward think that he was sleeping most of the time. Although he was indeed sleeping, it was much better overall than being exposed to people all the time.
Zuo Ning had just moved into a nice position and prepared to continue to reflect on the life of a dog when he heard the steward calling him. Using a paw to open the window and look outside, he saw the steward holding a tablet outside of the fence. Thinking of Lu Chenghe's words before his departure, Zuo Ning quickly rushed down, diligently running toward the steward.
The steward smiled and said: "Would it be okay to give you some cartoons to watch?" As soon as he said this, he turned on the tablet, found a cartoon with a dog as the main character, and then placed it within the fenced area.
The lively music soon began. Zuo Ning laid in front of the tablet, staring at it without blinking. The steward saw it obediently watching, not caring about whether it could understand as having sounds playing was better than its quiet kennel, then turned around to do other things.
Zuo Ning laid down for a while. He saw busy maids passing by but they only looked at him for a bit and couldn't pay close attention to him. Thus, he stretched his paws and tried to get the tablet back into his den. Unfortunately, he couldn't handle the weight of the tablet with one paw yet. Seeing that no one stopped his actions, he then turned around and stubbornly used his head to push the tablet into his den.
However, he obviously didn't want to play on the first floor which had ample light, allowing everyone to take a look. So biting the case of the tablet, he forcibly dragged it to the second floor.
A tablet, specifically a tablet that was connected to the internet! With this, he could do many things! Making sure that the window was closed and that people outside couldn't see any movements from inside, only then did Zuo Ning sit in front of the tablet. Although it was still playing the noisy animation, Zuo Ning's attention was no longer on the cartoon.
However, he didn't risk taking any actions. He wasn't sure if what he did on the tablet today would be checked. Even if he cleaned up the traces, would this action expose his peculiarity?
He didn't know if a family like the Lus would have someone to regularly or constantly monitor the internet usage. If he was adopted by a regular family, Zuo Ning definitely wouldn't be this careful. But toward the Lu family who he has been in contact with, he really does not dare to make any rash moves.
Maybe he was thinking too much, but it was better than being unable to control himself for a while, resulting in irreversible consequences.
In the end, Zuo Ning found out that even if there was a computer, as long as he was a dog, he still couldn't do anything. Looking at the electronic device he was familiar with, this was the first time that he had been at a loss and panicking since he became a dog. It also made him very clear that maybe, he was afraid that he would never go back.
Maybe in the future, he would live a worry-free life, but he would have no freedom, no self, and no matter what he wanted to do, he couldn't do it anymore. With a human soul crossing over and living a captive life, Zuo Ning didn't know if he could accept this kind of life.
After growing up happily, he had only just gotten over the blow of his parents' death when he had this kind of fantasy encounter. Even if Zuo Ning thought that he was strong, he was only a dissatisfied twenty year old who was at an age where he could still be called a child. He couldn't help but hide in this small enclosed space and cry silently.
At first, the steward thought that he had misheard, but later he carefully identified the sound and found that the little sobbing sounds were coming from the kennel. The housekeeper was shocked. After all, it had just gotten a vaccine which was what was most likely to cause problems for it. Fearing that the dog was uncomfortable, he quickly put down the things in his hands and called out twice.
As a result, Little Pudding who had always been obedient heard the call but did not come out. The butler walked to the kennel and pushed open the little window to see that the cartoon playing on the tablet had finished at some point and on the side, Little Pudding was crying.
Seeing that he pushed the window open, it turned around so that its butt was facing him.
The steward was silent for a while. He took the tablet out from the small window, found a cartoon that could be played continuously, and placed it back. However, Little Pudding still had its butt facing him and even though it heard the sound, it didn't turn back. The steward had to close the window for it.
After thinking for a while, he sent a text message to the young master. Although it wasn't good to disturb the young master with such a small matter, since it was just a text message, it shouldn't be too troublesome.
Lu Chenghe, who was in his office holding a small meeting with a group of subordinates, heard his phone vibrate. Casting a glance at it, he saw that it was from the steward so he picked up his phone and looked at it. Looking at the information that was sent, he was slightly stunned. After the small meeting was finished, Lu Chenghe called his special assistant to come down.
Special assistant Qi originally thought that his boss had some instructions for him, but he didn't expect to hear a question that was completely unrelated to work, and when responding, he was still somewhat distracted: "I rai-raise a, raise a Border Collie."
Lu Chenghe had a faint impression that his special assistant was raising a dog, so after confirming that he didn't remember wrongly, he asked: "So under what circumstances do dogs usually hide and cry?"
Although this question has gone beyond his professional scope, special assistant Qi summed up his many years of experience as a dog owner and replied: "Usually after being scolded, when it wants something but can't get it, or when it thinks that it is going to be abandoned. Some dogs have sensitive emotions and cry easily and would even cry while dreaming at night while other dogs, like my own dog, would cry when they don't feel secure. When it was young, I took it to get groomed, and when I went to pick it up, it cried in my arms, probably thinking that I didn't want it anymore. Dogs are very intelligent so they have their own emotions and thoughts, crying is just a normal expression of its emotions."
Lu Chenghe heard what was said and nodded. After letting the special assistant leave, he stared at the computer screen for a while. The little thing being so sensitive made him somewhat surprised, but he also couldn't be with it at home for twenty four hours a day. Although the little guy was sticky toward people, dogs only had one owner in their entire lives. If it wasn't sticky toward its owner, who would it stick to? With such a thought, Lu Chenghe was somewhat distressed as he suddenly felt that raising a pet wasn't a pastime, it was a responsibility.
Lu Chenghe, who got off work earlier than usual, deliberately made the driver detour to the mall. Although he could let the steward handle this, he wanted to buy toys for Little Pudding today.
Hearing the sound of the car, Zuo Ning rushed out like a small bullet as he needed to make sure that Lu Chenghe felt the warmth of him being welcomed home.
Before, he used to sell his good behaviour in order to stay in the house, but now, Zuo Ning found that Lu Chenghe was reserved with his emotions but actually a very gentle person, and this was in addition to his good looks. He really liked this person, so naturally, he wanted to be close to him.
Looking at the little guy whose tail was wagging, Lu Chenghe bent over and picked it up before walking to the rear of his car. The pile of small stuffed animals, chew toys of various sizes, both big and small balls, as well as several colourful frisbees made Zuo Ning stunned.
Lu Chenghe picked up a bright yellow Pikachu doll and put it in front of Zuo Ning: "Like it?"
Zuo Ning's eyes had a conflicted expression for a moment. Since he was young, he had never played with this kind of thing. Moreover, whether it was the kennel in the living room or the kennel in the bedroom, there were already many stuffed animals like this.
However, it looked like these were specially purchased by Lu Chenghe so Zuo Ning gave some face and swatted the face of the doll with a paw. Revealing his signature angelic smile: "Woof!" As long as you bought it, I'd like it!
[1] – 有缘无分 – an idiom meaning "destined to meet but not fated to be together"