When Shen Tao passed by Nie Yong, he kicked his leg. "Don't scare the dog. Little Pudding might have nightmares at night."
Nie Yong kept hugging then took out a tag from his pocket. "Recognize this?"
Zuo Ning looked at it. Isn't it just the dog tag? Lu Chenghe made a phone call to order another one. This time he ordered twelve of them. Having the whole set means that he can change between them every month!
Shen Tao didn't know the inside story of Nie Yong's breakup. He just thought that Nie Yong was tired of playing around. Now that he saw that Little Pudding's dog tag was in his hands, he was confused. "How come you have the dog tag?"
Lu Chenghe naturally interjected, "We left it at his place last time. Asked him to bring it back."
Nie Yong unfastened the dog tag and put it on Little Pudding's neck. "Hey, this time wear it properly. Don't let it fall off again. The stuff on it that fell off has already been repaired as well. Exactly the same as the original."
Apart from Lu Chenghe, Lou Jiu and Shen Tag had no idea what Nie Yong was saying. They thought he was bored so he was just chatting with the dog. Lou Jiu set the table with food and gave a shout. "Go wash your hands before eating. Are you guys hungry?"
Nie Yong rubbed the dog's head, washed his hands and sat at the table. The first thing he did was fill his cup with cold beer. The best accompaniment to hotpot is beer. The expensive wines were not suitable. "Come come come. Let's hold a memorial service for my lost love!"
Zuo Ning sat by Lu Chenghe's leg. Lu Chenghe lightly hit his cup with theirs. This was the first time Zuo Ning saw Lu Chenghe drinking. Even at the last dinner, Lu Chenghe didn't drink any alcohol. Seeing the four males down the glass and begin to eat without inhibitions made Zuo Ning envious.
It looked like they could eat spicy food too. The boiling hot red soup and the rich hotpot flavour was double the torture for Zuo Ning who not only had a sensitive dog nose but also knew how that meat would taste when cooking in that red hot soup.
Did you think these four rich people would eat this kind of very normal thing in a normal way? Order superior quality ingredients! Get drunk on expensive alcohol! Ah~ what a smell! Zuo Ning really wanted to eat.
Lu Chenghe looked at Little Pudding laying by his feet. He got up to get a cushion and put it underneath then put the already prepared dog food into Little Pudding's bowl.
Eating dog food and smelling the thick scent from the hotpot made Zuo Ning cry on the inside.
As the empty bottles grew in number, the men's conversation topics also followed in expanding. Lu Chenghe was still not a man of many words even though he drank a lot. He sat quietly on the side as usual. Although he didn't speak, no one could overlook his existence.
As the topics gradually became more emotional, Nie Yong swept his eyes across his audience. He held a drink in one hand and held back a smile. "Excluding Lou Jiu. Between the two of you, one has taken over the family business and the other is living under the control of the old man. In the future, you have to find a wife who matches your financial and social status. Before I was very prejudiced towards that kind of marriage. Why must one be at the same level before you can contemplate romance? After going back three generations, weren't our ancestors all peasants? Now, I think I finally understand."
Shen Tao laughed lightly. "You've become an expert after just one relationship? Even imparting your advice to us."
Nie Yong waved his hand. "You're joking but I'm being serious. Before I was really too naive. I thought that as long as I like my wife it'll be fine. Everything else can be learnt slowly. But some things just cannot be taught. Like the way you treat other people. Take the girls in our social circle. What words cannot be said and which words should be said according to the occasion cannot just be taught to someone smart. Sometimes smart people make mistakes because they are smart."
Sheng Tao shook his head and looked at Lou Jiu. "Looks like one can understand the meaning of life after experiencing love. Lost love is quite worthwhile after all."
Lou Jiu leaned back in his chair and watched Nie Yong pour out his grievances. Little details in life may seem trivial to outsiders but between lovers, it can be a fuse for conflict. He turned to see Lu Chenghe patting his dog with his head lowered. Lou Jiu laughed, "Hey Chenghe. In the future, you must find a wife who loves dogs. Otherwise, they will get jealous. Who treats a dog better than a person like you do?"
Nie Yong also laughed, "What are you getting at? If you let old Lu announce that whoever can treat Little Pudding like their own ancestor will be proposed to, half of the mountain top will be filled with people."
Zuo Ning snorted in his heart. It is useless to treat me like an ancestor! Whoever dares to come, whether they be God or Buddha, will be cut down immediately! Who dares to fight over Lu Chenghe with me will be met with my dog teeth!
Lu Chenghe saw Little Pudding silently baring his fangs at his side and laughingly rubbed his head.
The four men drank beer like it was water. Even so, after three rounds, whether it was because of the heat inside or from the alcohol, but everyone's face was slightly red.
After having eaten his fill, Zuo Ning quietly leaned on Lu Chenghe's leg. When everyone had stopped eating and were just chatting, he was moved from the ground onto Lu Chenghe's leg. He would usually stare at the food intensely. If they were at home Zuo Ning would definitely pester Lu Chenghe as much as possible to have a bite.
But since he wasn't at home, he couldn't embarrass Lu Chenghe. So he straightforwardly acted like he couldn't see it. He tunnelled his head into Lu Chenghe's arms. If he couldn't see it then he wouldn't think about it.
They talked until very late at night. When everyone began to feel tired they scattered into their respective rooms to sleep.
It was already very late, Lu Chenghe only wanted to rinse himself off quickly before sleeping. But before that, he first wiped the dog down from head to toe. Then according to their routine, he placed the dog on the sink and opened his muzzle to brush his teeth. Compared to a dog's baby teeth, the adult teeth were very distinct and sharp. Each one was white and clean with no cavities.
Zuo Ning just held his mouth open while Lu Chenghe brushed his teeth. From time to time he would raise his paws and pull down his arm. "Ang." Don't look for a wife. Just live like this with me for a lifetime.
"Don't move. It'll be over soon," said Lu Chenghe.
Zuo Ning thought for a bit but still didn't think it was ok. "Awoo." Actually, you should go find one. But not so early. A man's best period is after thirty. You can go look after thirty. Or when I die of old age, no one will be by your side. But accompany me for a few years first.
Although Lu Chenghe didn't understand what Little Pudding was saying, since he had so much to say tonight, he just rubbed his head. "Don't talk anymore. I'll finish brushing soon."
Zuo Ning sighed. He was personally handing his favourite person to someone else. Just thinking about it made him sad. He felt that he was the most understanding person in the whole world. He has almost moved himself to tears.
Upon hearing the unending 'awoo's, Lu Chenghe slapped his paws. "Why do you have so much to say tonight? Be quiet for a bit. Open your mouth. Your teeth haven't been cleaned yet."
Zuo Ning could only follow Lu Chenghe's hand and lift his head to open his mouth. He was looking at Lu Chenghe from such a close distance. Under the slightly yellow light, Lu Chenghe's slightly mussed-up hair looked like it was softly glowing. Even at such a distance, his skin looks so good and he had dense eyelashes too. It was really too beautiful.
He only ever sees Lu Chenghe splash his face with water. He did almost no other maintenance, so how was his skin so good?
Two years ago when he was sixteen or seventeen, during his most beautiful period in life, pimples loved him. As long as he ate anything slightly spicy, a thousand pimples would sprout overnight. Zuo Ning secretly thought, today you guys ate spicy hotpot so happily, tomorrow if everyone grew pimples, it would be very refreshing!
The open-mouthed dog suddenly became very happy. His eyes had become a line with how hard he was smiling. Lu Chenghe laughed and pinched Little Pudding's face. "What thoughts made you so happy?"
Zuo Ning looks at Lu Chenghe. Heh heh heh. Thinking about your face covered in pimples.
After brushing his teeth, Lu Chenghe carried Little Pudding over to the bed. He placed him down, unlocked the tablet, and patted him twice. "Be good and play by yourself. Don't make a fuss." He grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom after he saw that Little Pudding was dutifully laying down.
Zuo Ning lay on the bed and released a long breath of air. He sat for so long in the car. Then he had to listen to a group of four men drunkenly chatter for a whole night. Finally, he could sleep. He stretched and curled into a circle. Although this bed wasn't as big as the one at home, it was softer. Mm, pretty comfortable.
Just as Zuo Ning was getting comfortable, a sound came from the bathroom. Zuo Ning stared at the bathroom for a while and wanted to look past the frosted glass and the gauze-like water. Unfortunately, it was fruitless.
Cold wind mixed with the weak sulphuric smell from the balcony blew through the room. Zuo Ning quickly climbed down from the bed and tunnelled through the curtains. The balcony door was not closed and the small bamboo tube in the pool was still pouring out hot water. The water overflowed somewhere else and made the small pool look like a natural hot spring.
Zuo Ning pushed open the balcony door and went outside. The snow had stopped for a little while but was now falling down again. There wasn't a very big wind so it was snowing softly. Snowflakes fell into the hot white bath and disappeared instantly.
Zuo Ning raised his head and looked at the feather-like snow. It looked beautiful with the night sky as the backdrop. According to the days, it was almost the new year. This year was the first new year that he would experience with Lu Chenghe. It was also… the first year without his parents.
Zuo Ning was melancholic for a while before shaking off the snow that accumulated on his body. He was preparing to return to the room when one foot slipped and he fell down. Straight into the hot spring pool.
When Lu Chenghe finished washing up, he came out to find a dogless bed. He looked all around. The room was not very big but there was an inner and outer area so it wasn't very small either. Who knows where the little rascal had hidden to play so Lu Chenghe just called for him.
A bark sounded from the balcony. Lu Chenghe raised a brow. He thought he had closed the balcony door.
He pulled the curtains open and saw an overboard dog frolicking in the spring. In a flash, the blue veins on his forehead bulged out.