Lu Chenghe frostily stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows. His tall figure cast a shadow onto the balcony yard.
Zuo Ning's front paws were splayed on the side of the pool. He blinked at the expressionless Lu Chenghe. He wanted to say that he fell in accidentally but wasn't sure whether Lu Chenghe would believe him.
Lu Chenghe walked through the door. He crouched down and starred the drenched dog. He was so wet his fur was flat on his head which made his eyes look bigger and rounder. Lu Chenghe poked Little Pudding nose. "So you don't want me to bring you out to play anymore, right?"
"Awoo…" It really was an accident. Trust me.
Lu Chenghe reached a hand down to the water to test the temperature. It was a little colder than the fresh spring water that he used in the afternoon. He turned to look at Little Pudding who was trying to look pitiful. "Go play then. I'll wait till you have had enough."
Zuo Ning was terrified when he heard that. He quickly stretched out a paw and placed it on Lu Chenghe's hand. "Woof…" Don't be mad.
Lu Chenghe held the warm wet paw. The centre was still warm but it was slowly getting colder now it was out of the water. So he put the little paw back inside the water. "Go. Come back when you are done. You're already wet anyway."
Zuo Ning looked suspiciously at Lu Chenghe. So easily? Not angry? Why does it feel like the quiet before the storm? However, since Lu Chenghe has already spoken then he should naturally play to his heart's content. It wouldn't be worth it if he didn't have enough fun in the hot spring and he had to suffer punishment later.
So Lu Chenghe ended up looking at Little Pudding frolicking in the pool. He had been angered into acceptance. Lu Chenghe was too lazy to hover over him and returned to the room. He switched the TV channel to a news station then grabbed his laptop and leaned on the bed to check his mail.
Zuo Ning sighed comfortably and enjoyed the refreshing hot spring. He hadn't enjoyed this kind of experience when he was human. Now that he was a dog, he was experiencing all kinds of things. A layer of white snow had piled up on the side of the pool and Zuo Ning pressed a paw into it. He looked at the small paw print and felt that it looked a little lonely. So he stretched out a nail and carefully wrote 'Lu Chenghe' next to it.
Seeing the words Lu Chenghe next to a little paw print made Zuo Ning feel very satisfied. Then he turned his head and doggy paddled away.
A chilly wind blew over when he got out of the pool. Zuo Ning shook his fur wildly. He only ran back inside the room when the excess water on his fur was shaken off.
Lu Chenghe had already placed a big towel on the floor. He patted the towel now that Little Pudding had finished playing. "Come."
He wrapped the entire dog in the towel and look at the silly and happy expression. "Had enough?"
"Woof!" Enough~ Enough~
Lu Chenghe smiled and picked up the blow dryer that had already been set to one side. He began to dry the fur.
Blow drying a person's hair would take a few minutes. But, for a dog, especially a medium-sized one, it was quite an ordeal. Lu Chenghe felt that his holiday houses needed to add another facility. Every one needed to have a special pet dryer.
The blow dryer was about to overheat but Little Pudding's fur could only be considered to be 80% dry. Little Pudding was about to raise on his paws to get on the bed before Lu Chenghe directly stopped him. "Obediently stand without moving."
Zuo Ning tilted his head and looked up at Lu Chenghe. Then he looked down at his body. He had dutifully sat for half an hour for the dryer. Why wasn't he allowed on the bed?
He then saw Lu Chenghe bring out a paper plate from who knows where. On top, there were three rich smelling and super delicious pieces of lamb. And then the lamb was placed on top of his head.
Zuo Ning looked at Lu Chenghe disbelievingly. He knew it! Every day it was this move! Do you have any creativity at all?!
Lu Chenghe leaned on the side of the bed and continued to go through his emails. Meanwhile, a white dog sat on the side, not daring to move a single muscle. A plate of food was on Zuo Ning's head. This was simply the scene of a dog crime!
Zuo Ning whimpered twice. He wanted to remind Lu Chenghe to not focus so much on his emails and look at him. The lamb meat with the aroma of spicy hotpot constantly challenged his sense of smell. If he runs off with this bowl on his head and eats the meat, will he become a hotpot ingredient tomorrow?
Lu Chenghe turned his head to give him a glance. "Don't fuss. Quiet."
"Wu wu…" Falling into the pool was really an accident. He didn't jump in on purpose. He doesn't accept this punishment!
"Quiet."
"Wu…" So tired… Begging to be able to eat then sleep.
"Don't fuss."
"Awoo." You're abusing dogs. Corporal punishment is wrong.
"..."
"Wu wu…" Forget about the meat. Just let me sleep.
"..."
"Wu…" Chenghe. Do you still love me?
Lu Chenghe sent several important emails before discovering that the dog had been quiet for a while. When he turned to see, he discovered Little Pudding had closed its eyes. Even though he was already so tired his eyes couldn't stay open, he didn't allow himself to fully sleep. The moment he felt the thing on his head wobble, he immediately opened his eyes. The next second he would blink sleepily and the cycle would continue.
Lu Chenghe laughed when he saw. He took the plate off Little Pudding head and saw him immediately opened his eyes to look at him. Lu Chenghe patted Little Pudding neck. "Okay. Go to sleep."
The sleep-deprived Zuo Ning only cared that the punishment was over and closed his eyes, tumbling onto Lu Chenghe's body. Really exhausting.
Lu Chenghe took a look at the time. The punishment lasted half an hour. It wasn't easy to sit for so long without moving. So he tucked Little Pudding into the blankets and rubbed his head. He originally only wanted to punish him for ten minutes, but when Little Pudding had quieted down, he had forgotten the time. He really made it hard for Little Pudding who had sat there obediently for so long.
Lu Chenghe massaged Little Pudding's neck. He couldn't help smiling when he saw Little Pudding huff in satisfaction. Little Pudding was about a fall asleep so Lu Chenghe closed the balcony door, shut the curtains, and turned off the light. When he turned around, he saw the exhausted Little Pudding had closed his eyes but his two paws had crawled forward towards the plate of meat. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry and simply moved his paws into the blanket.
He disposed of the plate and got on the bed. He held Little Pudding in his arms and rubbed his fur. "You cannot carelessly play in the water in the future, ok?"
Although Zuo Ning was so tired his eyes couldn't stay open, and although the meat couldn't be sneakily eaten, he still replied. "Awoo."
Lu Chenghe smiled, "Alright. Go to sleep."
The snow outside continued to fall. The snow kept falling on the name and paw print by the side of the pool until it was completely covered.
In the middle of winter, the sky was always a bit dark. Because they had come out on holiday, Lu Chenghe didn't plan to bring Little Pudding to exercise. If it was summer, the quiet bamboo forest trail would be very suitable for a morning run. But now the snow was heavy outside. It was probably very deep as well.
On this rare occasion, Lu Chenghe hugged Little Pudding and slept in. When he saw the explosion of dog fur, Lu Chenghe laughed. He ran his hands through the fur and even used a wet towel to clean the incessantly yawning half-asleep Little Pudding. He wiped him from head to toe and then opened the door. "Go play. Don't run outside."
Zuo Ning happily barked and aimlessly ran out.
This stand-alone small villa only had one floor. Everyone's room was relatively far apart. There were two on each side and every room probably had a pool which took up a lot of space. On the way to the dining area, you had to pass through a Japanese-style courtyard. There was an even larger pool in the courtyard. When Zuo Ning passed by yesterday, he took a glance but the pool was empty. Now it was filled with faintly milky white spring water. The white snow on the ground glowed warmly, with the bamboo forest as the background, the scenery was like a painting.
Lou Jiu had been awake for a while and saw Little Pudding staring at the courtyard. He smiled. "No, if you go out to play and your owner can't find you, he'll be very worried~."
Zuo Ning turned to look at Lou Jiu. He smiled when he saw Lou Jiu smilingly walk over and squat down. "Woof!" Good morning.
Lou Jiu laughed. "Do you want to eat something yummy? Since your Lu Chenghe hasn't come out yet. He won't know if I sneakily let you eat."
Zuo Ning tilted his head. Then directly ran past him. Naturally, he wanted to eat delicious food. But if he didn't get Lu Chenghe's permission and ate whatever was given, he would embarrass him. He would rather think up of ways to steal food from Lu Chenghe's side than eat what other people gave him. Even if he became a dog, he had to have self-respect and love himself!
Lou Jiu looked at Little Pudding running off and didn't give chase. The entire yard was fenced off and the front door was closed, so he couldn't run outside. Since Little Pudding had come outside, Lu Chenghe should also have woken up. So Lou Jiu went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Since he was a child, Lou Jiu enjoyed cooking. He was always fascinated with the ability to combine ingredients together to make them look and taste delicious. It was like magic. When he was young and every child's dream was wild and imaginative, he had always been determined to be a chef. However, in his family and others like his, being a chef was an unpresentable and shameful thing. This was because in their homes there would be several chefs. Regarding such a small role, chef's were almost like servants.
Only Shang Fan hadn't laughed at his dream back then. He even said that he would open up a store for Lou Jiu when he grew up.