Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The moment the words came out of his mouth, Shu Yao was a little surprised.

Because she has always thought that she is a person who will not be addicted to anything.

Milk tea, games, blind boxes... these are the things that Zhao Tiantian listed as "I can't quit in my lifetime", and Shu Yao also used to drink and play with them, but he said he would stop.

However, this ability seemed to fail on Shen Ye's dog.

Shu Yao comforted herself that it was actually nothing. There weren't many dogs that were so compatible with her and liked to be close to her, so she could give in for the dog.

Moreover, now that her mother misunderstood that Chen Ye was her boyfriend, it would be beneficial to have a good relationship with him. Maybe when she confessed the truth, he would forgive her unkind behavior and even help her cover up her lie.

She remained silent, waiting for Shen Ye's answer.

Shen Ye turned around and asked, "Or you and your roommate?"

Thinking he felt it would be safer to go with someone else, Shu Yao felt uneasy: "My roommate is busy with graduation season and probably won't be free today. Is it okay for me to go alone?"

Shen Ye seemed to think for a moment, then walked to the other side to open the door, and gave this side to her, saying reluctantly:

"That's fine."

*

This time I was already familiar with the place.

The residential complex where Chen Ye lives has a very high green coverage rate. Entering the gate is an open garden-style courtyard with a small bridge, flowing water, and exquisitely inlaid Taihu stones, which is a unique wonder of nature.

The distance between the detached villas is dozens of meters, and unknown flowers and plants are planted in the middle, emitting bursts of fragrance.

At first glance, you can tell that this is a place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money.

Perhaps she was blinded by the luxury, and when she arrived at his door, Shu Yao suddenly woke up: That's not right, I picked up the dog at the gate of the community last time, why did it go straight to my house this time?

However, after these few contacts, Shu Yao seemed to have gradually regained the state they used to get along with him in high school. Her guard gradually weakened, so she didn't care. She was still thinking more about the argument with Lin Ruiyang just now.

Shen Ye turned around and saw her with a stern face: "Are you still angry?"

Shu Yao was silent for a moment, as if reflecting seriously: "I think my performance just now was not good enough."

Shen Ye smiled: "How about we drive back and argue again?"

"What a waste of gas money." Shu Yao was quite frugal. "We run into this all the time at the company anyway, and there's always quarrels."

Shen Ye: "..."

As soon as the door opened, the dog came running in.

When it saw Shu Yao outside the door, it seemed particularly excited. It circled around her feet, its tail wagging like a propeller, and it could rush out in the next second.

Shu Yao took the leash from his hand and was about to lead the dog out, but unexpectedly the dog suddenly stopped and would not move no matter how hard Shu Yao pulled.

Shu Yao was a little confused: "It seems like it doesn't want to go out."

Shen Ye glanced down and said with understanding: "I didn't take a shower because I was afraid of being embarrassed when I went out."

“…” As expected of a handsome guy’s dog, he has such a heavy idol image.

Shen Ye took the leash back and said, “Wait for me for twenty minutes.”

He led the dog into the house. After a while, perhaps because he was worried that she would be bored or because he realized her defensiveness, Shen Ye took the bathtub, dog shower gel and other things to the courtyard.

The dog stood in a special bathtub, his whole body wet and covered with foam. The not-so-long hair on the top of his head was shaped with great interest, and raised high like a hill.

A little earth dog that flies up to the sky.

Shu Yao was speechless. Without thinking, she took the water pipe from his hand and asked, "How old are you?"

Shen Ye stood up and leaned against the fence next to him, one leg on the ground and the other bent, and said in a teasing tone: "It likes it."

I don't believe you.

Shu Yao complained in his heart.

The puppy's dark eyes were round and bulging, and he waited with an innocent look on his face.

Shu Yao carefully helped it rinse off the foam on its body.

When the firecracker reached the top of the puppy's head, the puppy kept dodging, as if he was afraid that his cool firecracker made of fur would be knocked over.

"You really like this look?" Shu Yao ruthlessly destroyed it while complaining, "Just like your father, you have a straight male aesthetic."

Shen Ye sneered: "I have a straight male aesthetic, and you were wearing the same clothes as me that day."

Shu Yao: “…”

The weather was gloomy, and the surroundings seemed to be covered by a layer of gray curtain.

In the dim light, Shu Yao took the towel beside her and saw Chen Ye's profile from an upward angle. She suddenly remembered the rainbow farts everyone had praised under the "couple photo" Weibo post, such as the exquisite profile carved by a knife, and the profile that was smoother than everyone's life plan.

She couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Shen Ye gave him a puzzled look.

Shu Yao wiped the puppy's body with a towel and asked curiously, "Have you seen the photo of us online? The one that was secretly taken on the subway that day."

Shen Ye plugged in the hair dryer. I don’t know what brand it was, but the noise was very low and did not cover up his low voice at all.

"No."

Shu Yao originally wanted to explain, but then he thought, the Weibo post had been deleted and the matter hadn't become a big deal, so there was no need to mention it again.

As for using him as a shield, I should wait until our relationship gets closer before I tell him the truth.

"Boom—"

With a sound of spring thunder, a storm was about to come, and the courtyard suddenly became darker.

Shu Yao was speechless. Was Mercury retrograde today? She was already in a bad mood and wanted to take the dog for a walk, but she encountered a sudden downpour.

The raindrops hit the ground with a clattering sound. There was no time to be on guard. Shu Yao quickly picked up the dog and rushed into the house to take shelter from the rain.

Sitting on the carpet in the living room, she looked like a piece of paper soaked by rain, listless and without any energy.

Shen Ye went to close the French window, and when he turned back, he pressed the switch.

“Pah.”

The cold white light poured down, and when Shu Yao looked up, he saw Shen Ye's calm face. Behind him, the rain curtain was like a dividing line, isolating the lightning and thunder outside.

Perhaps because he came in late, the hair on his forehead was wet by the rain and had some water droplets on it.

At this moment, Shu Yao's brain was a little dazed.

It was also a rainy day, but what came to Shu Yao's mind at this moment was not the alley in the rain, but the scene of their first meeting.

That was shortly after the start of my senior year of high school.

When school was over, an autumn rain came unexpectedly.

It was drizzling at the beginning, and Shu Yao was hoping for a lucky break, thinking that he could just run to the bus stop quickly.

Unexpectedly, the rain suddenly got heavier halfway through the journey. Even though she had no choice but to stop at the security booth at the school gate, her shirt and school uniform were already completely wet.

Under the white fabric, the underwear is faintly visible.

Shu Yao leaned against the wall, clasping her arms against her chest to keep warm, but she still couldn't stop a boy next to her from stealing glances at her.

Once, twice, three times...

Shu Yao simply let go of his hand, turned around, and accepted the other person's gaze with a cold and calm look.

Instead, the boy got scared and avoided her gaze.

"Look, why don't you look anymore?"

The boy muttered in a low voice: "If you are afraid of being seen, then wear more clothes."

As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly felt a chill on my butt.

The boy turned around hurriedly and found that Shu Yao had taken advantage of his distraction to cut open his school uniform pants with a utility knife.

He frantically covered his trousers to hide the red fabric underneath.

Shu Yao put away the knife and blinked innocently: "Are you so afraid of being seen? Then why don't you wear an extra layer?"

"Fuck." The boy blurted out a curse word and clenched his right fist, clearly intending to fight back.

But before he could touch her, a basketball popped out from nowhere and flew towards the boy's head.

"Bang"

The basketball was hit accurately and fell onto the rain-soaked ground.

The boy cried out in pain, covered his head, and glared at the person with a ferocious look on his face.

But the moment he saw who was coming, all his aura disappeared.

"Shen Ye?"

The boy muttered to himself like a deflated balloon. Not only did he not resist, he didn't even say a word. He just ran away dejectedly, clutching his pants tightly.

Shu Yao finally had time to look at the boy not far away. He was holding a black umbrella, and his school uniform jacket was slightly wet from the rain. Even the strands of hair on his forehead were wet.

At that time, Shu Yao had just transferred to Fuchuan No. 3 Middle School a few days ago and knew very few people. Naturally, he didn't know who Chen Ye was.

Although the boy's cold temperament was indeed intimidating, Shu Yao did not feel too scared because he helped her.

She picked up the wet basketball and the boy walked up to her.

She took out a pack of tissues from her bag and carefully wiped the basketball dry. During this process, the other party remained silent.

"Thank you." Shu Yao handed the basketball to him with a smile.

Shen Ye didn't answer.

He closed his umbrella and leaned it against the wall beside her, then took off his school uniform and handed it to her.

Shu Yao looked down and was deeply moved.

Then he rejected it mercilessly.

…

At this moment, Chen Ye also gave her a coat, but this time, he didn't hand it to her, but threw it directly, covering her upper body.

Shu Yao was confused at first, but when he took off his coat, he suddenly understood.

When she carried the puppy into the house, the puppy was still wet, so much so that most of the clothes on her chest were also wet.

Shu Yao felt a little embarrassed and went into the bathroom with a hair dryer to tidy herself up.

When he came out, Chen Ye had changed into his home clothes and was sitting on the carpet playing with the puppy, throwing a ball and holding a lollipop in his mouth.

Shu Yao glanced at the wrapping paper on the coffee table. It smelled of lemon mint.

No wonder he smelled so good in the elevator, it turned out to be the smell of a lollipop.

Shu Yao then remembered that in high school, Xu Zhaoli and Zhao Tiantian were being sweet and affectionate next to him, and when the two of them were sitting opposite each other awkwardly, he would also eat lollipops to pass the time, probably because he felt bored.

I didn't expect he still has this habit now.

Chen Ye looked quite leisurely, but Xiao Gou was obviously not in a good mood. His eyes and body language revealed a perfunctory attitude of "Forget it, if you want to play, I'll play with you."

Shu Yao squatted beside it and touched its head: "It doesn't seem very happy today. Is it feeling unwell?"

But it was fine before I took a shower.

Shen Ye: "Because you ruined its hairstyle."

Shu Yao: “…”

Are you so vindictive? It's true that dogs look like their owners.

She asked worriedly, "How do you make it happy?"

Shen Ye: “Hug it.”

Shu Yao held the puppy in her arms half-believingly and stroked the soft fur on its back. The word "grudge" in her mind reminded her of the WeChat message, and she couldn't help feeling a little sorry.

"By the way, why did you suddenly send me a period before?"

“…” Chen Ye said, “Clean up your friends.”

It is true.

"I'm sorry, you changed your name and profile picture, and I really didn't recognize you, so I asked who you belong to."

"Um."

"Then later, when I sent you a message, did you not recognize me?" Shu Yao blinked, giving enough hints.

Yes, it must be.

We are all old classmates, so give us some face.

"No." Chen Ye threw the plastic stick in his mouth into the trash can and answered as if it was a matter of course, "I'm just holding a grudge."

"..." Shu Yao confirmed again that they were indeed father and son.

Shu Yao looked down at the puppy and scratched its head, and it whimpered and rubbed against her arm.

At this moment, my depressed mood seemed to be mostly cured.

Shu Yao had originally planned to leave because she missed the chance to walk the dog due to the rain, but she suddenly realized that playing with the puppy in the living room seemed to be a good option.

After a while, the puppy seemed tired and lay on her thighs with his eyes closed and breathing slowly.

Shu Yao didn't dare to move, but wanted to find something to pass the time, so he suddenly remembered that he hadn't completed the daily tasks of "Treasure Notes".

She put her phone on silent mode.

After playing for a few days, this daily task became easy for her, but soon she discovered another problem - she was stuck.

The delicate eyebrows were slightly wrinkled.

Shu Yao was unconvinced and changed the card and tried again, but still failed.

Just when she was about to upgrade the card, Shen Ye came back from the bedroom after a phone call and glanced at her screen.

"Don't exchange a painting of a thousand miles of rivers and mountains for a teapot of poetry."

"Is there anything particular about it?"

"The attributes have different emphases, so the effects of pairing them together are also different."

“…” Shu Yao knew that there was such a thing as card face attributes, but she never studied it. The matching depended entirely on the level of the card and whether the card face was pleasing to the eye.

After changing the card, I passed the customs smoothly as expected.

"You play this game too?"

"Played for a while."

There are indeed quite a few boys who play this game, so Shu Yao was not particularly surprised.

Shen Ye walked to the coffee table and poured himself a glass of water: “How do you play this game?”

"It's all for work. This game is so popular lately, we have to take advantage of the popularity." Shu Yao sighed helplessly.

"Not fun?"

"Not really. It's not bad, but playing with a work mentality makes it a lot less fun." Shu Yao's hands kept moving across the map, typing and replying. "Also, although the cards are very beautiful, the characters are mostly well-known cultural relics, such as A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains and Along the River During the Qingming Festival. For someone like me who is tied to my job, they are too familiar, so the appeal has become less."

Where she couldn't see, Shen Ye's gaze paused.

"What else?"

"Hmm... Also, the design of some unpopular characters is a bit monotonous and one-sided. For example, the Changsha Kiln Poetry Pot is set as a gentleman in a khaki robe. The card is just like everyone else, and no one mentioned it online, so I just ignored it. But actually, as far as the cultural relics themselves are concerned, many popular love words have appeared on the Changsha Kiln Poetry Pot, such as "You were born before I was born, and I was born when you were old." If you can add the theme of "Master of Love Talk" to such a serious and old-fashioned character, wouldn't it feel quite contrasting?"

Not hearing Shen Ye's answer, Shu Yao looked up and smiled awkwardly: "Sorry, it seems like I have an occupational disease."

"No, that's a good idea. I'll ask them to improve it next time."

Shu Yao was surprised: "You?"

Chen Ye leaned on the sofa holding the cup, smiling faintly, lazy and uninhibited: "Don't they send questionnaires to players every month?"

Shu Yao: “…”

The last time she heard something similar was when Zhao Tiantian said she was involved in a 343.4 billion project.

Later I found out that she just bought two pairs of chopsticks on Taobao during Singles’ Day.

*

Play with the dog until the rain stops.

Shu Yao plans to go home.

Shen Ye gentlemanly offered to take her back, but she refused, so he didn't insist.

Before she left the house, the dog grabbed her trouser leg and wouldn't let her go.

Shu Yao tugged at his pants and patted its head helplessly: "I'll come again next time."

Only then did it reluctantly let go.

Shu Yao just turned around, but suddenly remembered something and turned back: "By the way, last time you mentioned Xu Zhaoli's marriage, I asked Tiantian about it, and she said it's okay and I can go. I'll send you the receipt information later."

“…” Shen Ye nodded, “Okay.”

The door opened and closed.

A man and a dog stood at the door, staring at the closed door, no one moved.

A few seconds later, Chen Ye took out his mobile phone from his pocket and opened the chat interface with Xu Zhaoli's fiancée Zhao Meier.

The screen was blank.

I haven't chatted since I added you as my friend.

He sent a short message: [Could we add two more seats at the wedding?]

Zhao Meier: [Who is it?]

Chen Ye: [Zhao Tiantian and her friends.]

Zhao Meier: [Xu Zhaoli's ambiguous partner from years ago? Big brother, if you don't want us to get married, you can just say it directly. Why bother looking for someone all over the world?]

Chen Ye: [Card number.]

Zhao Meier: [Alright! I'll arrange it right away. You can sit at any table you choose! You can even sit on Xu Zhaoli's head!]