Zuo Ning was not actually complaining. He Cheng was not like the guy who kicked him last time. Maybe he just didn't like dogs very much but he wasn't cruel. Apart from the two verbal stabs this morning and the two tugs of his tail in between games, he didn't make any other moves. Zuo Ning just wanted to act spoiled so that Lu Chenghe would hug and kiss him.
When he realised what he was doing, he suddenly sat up and stared seriously at a point in the distance. Was he… acting cute!? How could he do such a non-manly thing so easily?!
Lu Chenghe didn't pay any attention to Little Pudding's antics. God knows what was going through that little brain every day that made him randomly move every so often. It would pass after a short while.
As he predicted, Little Pudding sat for a little while before bonelessly falling back on Lu Chenghe's body. Lu Chenghe raised his hand and the little dog automatically tunnelled to his chest, treating it as a pillow and continued to watch the episode.
Lu Chenghe squeezed the little meaty pad in his hand. It was rare that he stopped working and reading to watch this kind of entertainment program. Usually, it would be a waste of his time but this time it wasn't without gain. He had watched Little Pudding's previous two films but Little Pudding was acting according to the director's vision not according to his personality. Even though there was some guidance in reality shows, Little Pudding was able to express himself more. This was also the first time he saw how Little Pudding interacted with outsiders without his presence.
Lu Chenghe was very clear on what Little Pudding was like. He was smart, even if his IQ drops occasionally, and he liked to play and act spoiled. However, Little Pudding was also very vigilant. He wasn't like other dogs who would become friends with anyone if they called his name. Little Pudding could distinguish between family and strangers. Even within the family, he had people who he was closer with. Lu Chenghe was very satisfied with this kind of situation. After all, who isn't possessive of the young that they raised.
When Lu Chenghe was raising Little Pudding, he searched and read many articles about raising Samoyed's and came across many stories of exceptionally smart animals. In particular, there was a dog called Saihu who saved people's lives and had a monument in his honour. So no matter how absurdly smart Little Pudding acted in front of him, he didn't think it was strange. After all, he had never raised a pet before and didn't have anything else to compare it to.
Now that he had the chance to see Little Pudding with a whole group of dogs. Little Pudding's cleverness and self-discipline were just unexplainably amazing especially since he had never been formally trained before. It was like he could understand every spoken word.
When someone brought out a dog treat, the moment the dogs smelt it they all charged over. Only his Little Pudding lazily took a look and didn't make a single movement. Ok, so what if the dog treat was just not to his taste? Then why was it that when the celebrities were eating, all the dogs were lying around their feet acting like they would die if they didn't eat something. But his little greedy dog who normally tries to snatch the food out of his mouth was immobile and just lay on the floor with his eyes closed to rest.
It felt like that kid who was constantly making trouble at home was a very obedient child outside. Lu Chenghe was very surprised.
The broadcast showed a scene where Little Pudding was the first to exit a small maze. He was very calmly walking out, unlike the other dogs who were still turning around and around. The dogs heard the stars outside calling their names and wanted to go out, but were confused by the mirrors and kept bumping into things. This contrast just made people feel like the other dogs and Little Pudding were not at the same level at all.
[Bow down to my Big Boss Pudding! Isn't this just like the doggy version of Mr Perfect top student? The rest of the dropouts are still struggling inside while my student president is already sitting outside coldly spectating!]
[The other dogs just lift their head and charge forward. Little Pudding knows how to use his paws to lead the way. If he can walk he'll walk, otherwise he'll just change direction. He's a higher being!]
[Hahahahaha! I can't stop laughing! This episode is so great! I think that the rating will shoot to the top!]
[My poor Husky. He's about to have an existential crisis. In all four directions, he can only see himself. He's so scared he doesn't dare to walk anywhere hahahahaha]
[Thumbs up to the screenwriters! How do you even come up with the idea of letting dogs go through a maze? I've laughed so much I have abs now!]
Zuo Ning wagged his tail as he lied on Lu Chenghe. Just a small, tiny maze. Piece of cake!
After a day of playing games, he had earnt Chu Hang 12 points. The next highest competitor was Lai Yang and his Border Collie with 4 points. The rest of them had mostly zeros. It was already impressive enough to get even one point.
When it reached nighttime, everyone including their dogs was locked in a classroom. On many people's chairs and the blackboard were hints on the password for escaping. This time, they were testing the human's IQ.
Within the entertainment circles, some had highly intelligent minds and some couldn't even complete a simple equation. This variety show's most attractive point was the escape room. It was able to truly show individual talent. Sometimes, when the stars couldn't understand a simple, clear question, the audience would laugh at their bean-sized brain. Sometimes, it would be like they opened Pandora's box and the person's intelligence would be off the charts. They would solve the puzzles in minutes and the audience would all turn into fans.
Zuo Ning also liked this rotten show before. But now that he was the one participating he felt blindfolded. The whole blackboard was filled with messy numbers. He had laughed at the celebrities before for being unable to solve such easy puzzles. Not that he thinks about it… he was like a surveying god before, of course, he thought it was easy. Since he was in the thick of it now, f-ck, what the hell was up with these tips?!
Well, he wasn't expected to solve these difficult questions anyway. Even if he understood, he couldn't give Chu Hang any tips. Otherwise, everyone would know that he was not truly a dog. So he just turned his head and trotted around, patrolling the classroom.
He looked at the school desks, the familiar-looking blackboard, even the rubbish bin was in the back corner like usual. Zuo Ning had the illusion that he returned to his last year of high school. When Zuo Ning slinked his way back to the door, he discovered that the gaps between the bars of the iron door were quite large. He looked back at Chu Hang who was still frowning while staring at the blackboard. So Zuo Ning just slipped through the gap in the door.
The comments began to scroll furiously again:
[Every fat doggy is actually a fat fake!]
[What fat? My Pudding isn't fat, his figure is within the normal range!]
[An anti-theft door can't even lock up a dog hahahahahahahaha! What to do? The dog has run off and they are still locked up. How will they chase him?]
[Wait until Chu Hang turns around! (◯Δ◯∥) Dog? Where's the dog? Hahahahahaha! I can't stop laughing!]
The camera kept following the Little Pudding who broke out of prison. It showed him making a round of the area. Soon, the other dogs who were not tied up also escaped through the bars in the iron door. Contestants fortunate enough to have tied a leash to their dogs directly hugged their dogs and kneeled by the iron door, silently staring outside.
Those who discovered that their dog has escaped were miserably falling towards the door. They grasped the iron bars and acted out a tearful scene. They stuck their hands through the door, trying to call the dogs back but the only thing they saw their shadow as they leisurely departed.
[It's The Great Escape! Hahahahaha! Bow down, filthy human!]
[My big boss Pudding is bringing his group of brothers along to bring down the heavens lmao]
[This is the result of not earnestly holding on to your leashes, the dogs are rebelling!]
The program had however cleverly prepared in advance for this scenario. The stairs on both sides had been sealed off so the dogs could only move around on this floor. If they actually ran off they would never be found since the school they were filming in was so large.
In post-production, they edited the scene to show the contrast between the celebrities who were locked in a room, bitterly forced to solve puzzles and the dogs who were happily running madly up and down the corridors. On one side was the pitiful little cabbages enduring the wind and rain, on the other side they were happily dancing to the Can-Can song. It made the audience laugh until they fell over.
The main offender, Little Pudding, went to the bodyguards who were following the production team and took his cushion. He sat on it to watch the dogs happily wagging their tails.
[At this moment, Little Pudding looked towards the humans grasping onto the bars of the cage and shouting at them to quickly come back. His inner self must be thinking: F-cking idiots!]
[Oh my poor brother Tao, he can't even calculate the price of his groceries let alone making him solve this kind of problem. You may as well lock him up until the end of time. Look at his longing gaze at his free dog partner, he must also really want to go outside and play with them.]
[Pft… My Lele has escaped with the dogs! His body is so tiny, there probably isn't anything that can keep him inside?]
[Hahahahaha I agree! If Lele sees these comments, he might sit on the toilet and cry.]
[A pity, he got caught and sent back. Look at those dogs, no matter how they play nobody is dragging them back. People are not as good as dogs.]
The first to emerge was naturally Chu Hang who had the most hints. Within one minute, the nicknamed "Textbook" Lai Yang had also successfully solved the problem and fled. After successfully escaping, the contestants would get a map of the correct route to take. Only one route is unlocked for a while and that was the only way out. Every few minutes there would be a patrol of people wearing black clothes who would chase you. So if you wanted to escape from the school, you would need to wait until the right time and then escape.
But the premise was that you needed to bring along your partnered canine. If the person managed to escape but didn't bring their dog, they would still suffer a punishment.
The moment Chu Hang came out he lunged towards Little Pudding. "You disloyal little rascal. Turns out you abandoned me to run first!"
Little Pudding seemed to respond to him with a bark and the comments once again began happily translating the ten levels of canine language.
[Little Pudding said: Stupid human. You were too slow.]
[No no no, I didn't abandon you. I was spying on our enemies!]
[Little Pudding: Impudent! Is this how you talk to your Master?!]
Chu Hang stood by and attached a leash onto the obediently unmoving Little Pudding. Following hot on his heels, Lai Yang also quickly charged onwards to find his dog. His Border Collie seems to have played so hard it went crazy, no matter how much Lai Yang called for it, it didn't respond. In the end, he had to run over and catch it. In the end, Lai Yang had to chase the dog up and down the corridor, over and over again.
Those contestants who directly gave up on solving the puzzle just leaned by the iron door and laughed like they were big children. Their laughter sounded like a flock of geese, reverberating around the corridors.
Tian Lele who had already escaped once didn't solve the puzzle, so he didn't get the provided route map. But it didn't matter. Seeing that Lai Yang and Chu Hang successfully ran out and that there were no black-clothed people in the vicinity, he once again escaped from the cage. Then he picked up his canine partner and followed behind the two people like a thief. He was like a little mouse who had stolen all the cheese.
The rest of the contestants who saw the three people run off started to hurriedly try to solve the problem. Those who wanted to escape also began to survey their surroundings and tried to escape through the windows. But those who chose to escape through the window also couldn't get the route map, they could only pitifully chase after the footsteps of the small army in front. Some who hadn't made it to the safe area yet got caught by the patrol and were captured back to the room.
When Lai Yang and the others reached the finish line, Tian Lele thought they had successfully escaped and began cheering. Lai Yang and Chu Hang began encouraging their dogs to put their paw on a screen indicated with a red line. The moment Tian Lele saw that he immediately copied them.
But this kind of action done without training was simply too difficult for the dogs to understand. Zuo Ning also didn't panic. He calmly swayed his tail to and fro as he watched Chu Hang work himself into a sweat trying to get Little Pudding to follow along with his movement. Only until everyone had run over and copied what the others were doing did Zuo Ning leisurely walk past the red line and place a paw on the screen. The screen instantly lit up and a big "win" appeared on it.
[lololol I just witnessed the growth of a scheming dog. Did you need to wait until your little brothers had come out to go across the finish line?]
[Oh my, look at the arrogant little face. The appearance of hitting the screen with its little chest sticking out and its big wagging tail is just too darn cute!]
[So did Little Pudding understand? Are Samoyeds this smart? Not actually part of the dumb and dumber group??]
[Hey, the way I see it, this entire episode is just them trying to trick me into buying a dog!]
Chu Hang and Little Pudding were the biggest winners of the day, so they were naturally issued a reward from the production team. Chu Hang received a pure gold dog brooch. The design was very cute. Little Pudding received a pure gold dog tag but because they didn't know who would win when they made it, the tag only had a picture of a cartoon dog on it. It looked very cute and stylish.
At present, the dog tag was displayed on the bookshelf on the other side of the room. It was hung on a furry plushie and placed next to a glass bowl full of dog teeth. There was also an exquisite box. There was colourful jewellery embellished on the lid and it seemed to have immense value. But the box only had one thing in it. A valueless heart-shaped stone.
According to Lu Chenghe's style, this wasn't set up by him. Although he was the one who had someone design the glass box of dog teeth, he only wanted to display it in the room as a commemorative decoration.
When mother Lu saw the Little Pudding had won a souvenir from the reality show, she installed a wall cabinet in Lu Chenghe's bedroom. She said that it was for displaying anything of Little Pudding's. Although the life of a dog compared to a human is very short, it could still fill the cabinet. In the future, there would always be a trace of his existence and would have commemorative importance.
After Lu Chenghe finished watching the episode, he took one look at the time and directly closed the laptop. He lowered his head to look at the Little Pudding in his arms. Little Pudding was also looking at him with those deep black eyes. One person and one dog stared at each other for some time. Then Lu Chenghe couldn't help but laugh. He flicked the little ear. "Alright. It's ended. Sleep now."
Zuo Ning directly splayed on Lu Chenghe's chest. He used his paws to poke at his lips. "Awoo!" I'm this amazing and you're not gonna reward me?
Lu Chenghe lifted his hand and wanted to carry him down. The object laying on his chest was too big. And heavy. But the moment he moved, that little thing stretched out his claws and hooked onto his clothes.
Lu Chenghe was now holding him in the air. "Let go. Or I'll chop off your paws."
Zuo Ning huffed. "Woof!" Kiss.
Lu Chenghe shook him in his arms. "Not letting go?"
"Woof!" Not giving kisses?
Lu Chenghe turned his body around and pressed the fat little dog underneath his body. He held the two paws and removed the long nails from his clothes. "Such a little thing with so much courage. Dog's are usually afraid but you dare to talk back. I've spoilt you!"
Zuo Ning grinned widely and rubbed his head against Lu Chenghe's mouth then stretched out his tongue to lick his face. He wanted to lick Lu Chenghe's lips but when he raised his head and saw Lu Chenghe's watching his gaze, he cowered a little.
Lu Chenghe squeezed Zuo Ning's mouth shut. "Don't want your paws? You must also not want this tongue."
Zuo Ning wiggled around and let out humming and squeaking sounds.
Lu Chenghe picked up the remote control from the nightstand. He turned off the light and closed the curtains before laying back down and pressing Little Pudding into his arms. "Sleep. If you don't sleep, there will be braised dog meat."
Zuo Ning huffed and rested his paws on Lu Chenghe's arms. Only then did he aggrievedly close his eyes and begin sleeping.
As Little Pudding's popularity grew from this episode, there was one person who couldn't laugh as they were watching.
She felt ashamed and apologetic when she saw that dog. But even though she knew it was her fault, her heart couldn't help but place blame. If she hadn't seen a lone dog that day, if that dog tag didn't have a GPS tracker, then the situation wouldn't be what it is now.
Xue Lu did regret that in a moment of thoughtlessness she had done that kind of thing. But then her ex-boyfriend broke up with her without any way to redeem or explain herself. This sort of decisive and clean-cut caused her to feel bitter disappointment. When he chased her, he treated her like a princess, but now that she only made a little mistake, he immediately made a clean break.
To say that her heart had no blame would be a lie. Since he loved her, why didn't he give her a second chance? To sentence someone to death after one mistake, was it truly love?
When she thought of the extremely unfamiliar side of Nie Yong, Xue Lu's heart tightened slightly. The way he silently looked at her, like he could see all the inferiority complexes she felt in her heart like he was able to expose everything she never wanted anyone to know.
Back when they were dating, Nie Yong treated her the best. Although he was a bit of a ruffian, he had many friends by his side and was very playful. He was also very ambitious, choosing to study even with his family background. He was exactly the kind of man she wanted. She didn't want the so-called rich second-generation, whose 'like' couldn't last long. She didn't think that she could get a return for investing her youth on them.
The result though was that she thought she had chosen the right one within those thousands of flowers, but it was the worst choice she could have made.
Xue Lu looked at the magazine lying on the table in front of her. Nie Feng. The president of an internationally famous electronics company. 32 years old, a golden bachelor. And who looked 70% similar to Nie Yong.
Then looking at the friend that Nie Yong especially brought her to see, Lu Chenghe. The chairman of Lu family's chain of holiday hotels. Valued in the hundreds of billions.
A person who could be friends with a person with a personal worth of more than billions, a person with such an older brother, would they be born from a small family?
Xue Lu looked at the coldly arrogant and clever Samoyed. Compared with the other dogs who had a leash yet couldn't stop moving, it was just calmly sitting to one side. To be able to have trained to that kind of presence, it could only be the dog that President Lu raised. The thing she stole like she was possessed, was actually from President Lu's dog.
So due to her short-sightedness, there wasn't even a chance to right her wrong. She believed that Nie Yong did have feelings for her. She said she didn't want to have sex before marriage because she wanted to give him the perfect wedding night. So Nie Yong understood and respected her. If he didn't plan on marrying her, then that would be completely unnecessary. When she thought of what she missed, Xue Lu regretted her past deeds.
Now looking at the dog on the screen that everyone was chasing after, a hidden hatred sprung from her heart.
The feedback that the variety show received was like their trend line had flown directly upwards. From the moment the episode aired, Little Pudding's Weibo suddenly broke the 5 million followers milestone and it was still rising linearly. The blogger had only started a month ago but it was already like a cute pet blogger who had been in the business for many years.
So some small advertisers didn't know who the owner was and tried to send him some money. Sometimes Zuo Ning would see it himself on the phone and sigh. Before when he was a human, he was always worried about his future after university. Now that he had become a dog, how come people were fighting to give him money every day?
Just when Zuo Ning was woefully thinking that people were not as good as dogs for the umpteenth time, the lazy him was packaged up by Lu Chenghe for a business trip. Zuo Ning was still a little muddled as he sat on the plane gazing at the blue sky and white clouds. Lu Chenghe had never mentioned a business trip, he had thought that Lu Chenghe had woken him up early to bring him somewhere to play. Instead, they went straight to the airport. For the first time in his life, he was in a private jet. Living this dog life… was truly worth it!