Xu Moran climbed to the third floor without even taking a breath, and only when he took the keys out of his bag did he finally exhale the breath he had been holding all the way.

The more panicked she became, the more chaotic things got, and the more chaotic things got, the more panicked she became. It took her longer than usual to find her keys, and when she tried to insert the keys to open the door, her hands trembled so much that she couldn't even aim at the keyhole.

Just as he was about to try again, the door opened from the inside, revealing a face so beautiful that Xu Moran couldn't think of any words to describe it. In any case, that face was no longer simply pretty.

The first thing the owner of the face said to Xu Moran was, "Why are you only coming back now?"

Yes, Xu Moran was sure she hadn't misheard. The man's tone carried a hint of complaint when he said those words, but deep down, she had never felt any real dissatisfaction with this man.

Even though she had rushed all the way and then ran after getting off the bus, with a thin layer of sweat seeping through her vest, she didn't feel a single bit of dissatisfaction.

"I've tried my best to hurry," Xu Moran said, and then walked into the house.

The word "dog..." caught in his throat when he caught sight of something sitting on the sofa.

The object reacted rather slowly, only turning its head to look at Xu Moran after hearing him call out "dog".

Before that, its eyes were fixed on the television not far away. A dog is watching TV with complete concentration, and it's Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. That's something else.

Thinking back to the man she picked up in the middle of the night, Xu Moran wondered if she was dreaming. Soon, when an object on the sofa rushed towards her with lightning speed and pounced on her before she could react, she knew she wasn't dreaming.

Fortunately, Xu Moran is not afraid of dogs. On the contrary, he has loved dogs since he was a child. Since he started working, he has wanted to get one, but he has been worried that he would not have time to spend with the dog during the day and sometimes he would have to work the night shift. He was afraid that the dog would be pitiful to be locked at home all day, so he has not gotten one yet.

Before Xu Moran could react, the dog had already pounced on her without any warning. Was it going to bite her? She was about to raise her hand to defend herself when, despite her seemingly frail appearance, she was a police academy graduate and had spent the last six months in the criminal investigation team, so she was quite skilled.

Just as he raised his fist, a wet tongue licked his face, and the tongue showed no sign of stopping. Xu Moran saw a dog's head waving enthusiastically in front of him.

Xu Moran was too embarrassed to hit such an enthusiastic and harmless dog, but she couldn't let its muzzle keep poking her face.

He raised his hands to cup the dog's head, stopping it from licking him. Dogs aren't exactly unintelligent, and Xu Moran scolded it, "That's enough, stop!"

The dog seemed to understand human speech, stopping its licking motion for a minute or two.

Just as Xu Moran was about to stand up from the ground, the dog that was already squatting at her feet watching her jumped up again and quickly licked her when she wasn't paying attention.

Xu Moran suddenly stood up, looked down at the dog's footsteps, and asked, feigning anger, "Where did you come from?"

She knew, of course, that a dog wouldn't answer her; rather than asking a dog, she was asking the man walking toward the kitchen.

The man seemed not to hear her and continued forward. Xu Moran was furious. This was not a vicious dog at all, but a golden retriever, a well-known gentle dog in the canine world.

But the dog, as if knowing it had done something wrong, nudged Xu Moran's hand with its head, begging Xu Moran to pat its head. Xu Moran was speechless, but followed the golden retriever's lead and gently stroked the dog's head.

The golden retriever squinted comfortably, its face looking drowsy.

The man quickly came out of the kitchen, not empty-handed, but carrying a glass of water. He walked straight to Xu Moran and handed her the glass, saying, "Are you thirsty? Have some water first."

Xu Moran could sense that the man was trying to please her. She reached out and took the water glass, but didn't drink it right away. When she spoke, her tone was much gentler than before, "In the future, when I'm at work, don't make a big deal out of it and keep calling me. It will affect my work, and if it affects my work, it will affect my salary."

The chapter you are currently reading, "Picking Up an Older Brother as My Husband," is only a small portion of Chapter 18: The So-Called Vicious Dog. To read the full version, please search on Baidu: "香满路言情m.bookxml". Then search for "Picking Up an Older Brother as My Husband".