Chapter 51

Around eight o'clock in the morning, Zuo Xutong opened her eyes. It was still dark outside, and the room was almost nighttime. She groggily picked up her phone, glanced at the time, and was instantly wide awake.

It's so late! She quickly got out of bed, washed up quickly, ate something in the restaurant, and then rushed up to the fifth floor to knock on Peng Kun's door.

The door opened quickly, and out to greet her was Chu San, whose dog, which had been on the verge of death the night before, was now running around freely and wagging its tail happily at her.

Zuo Xutong was overjoyed and bent down to stroke its head. Only then did she have the mood to examine the dog. It was small in size, with thick whiskers, pepper-colored curly fur, and round, black eyes. It was probably a Schnauzer mix.

"So cute!" She picked it up and examined it closely. She found that not only had its spirits improved significantly, but its fur was also thicker and smoother, and its eyes seemed to have become bigger and bright black. It was almost like... a completely different dog!

This strange thought flashed through her mind, but it startled her. She couldn't help but think darkly, "Could it be that the one from yesterday died, and he got another one that looks similar from somewhere else?"

Not only did she think that, but she also blurted it out: "Is this the one from last night?"

"What do you mean?" Peng Kun looked at her, puzzled. He hadn't expected her to ask that. He probably couldn't guess her strange thought process even if he were beaten to death.

Looking at the completely transformed junior high student, Zuo Xutong hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't resist her curiosity and slowly voiced her question in a tactful way: "How come it looks completely different from last night... like two different dogs?"

Peng Kun finally understood, and instantly felt both annoyed and amused. He thought to himself that this woman's thought process was indeed extraordinary. He looked at her and asked calmly, "Are you suspecting that I... switched dogs?"

Zuo Xutong looked at him too. His expression was perfectly calm, and his eyes didn't dart around like someone caught doing something wrong. She must have been overthinking it. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before she awkwardly lowered her head. She admitted that her thought was indeed a bit dark, and to avoid appearing like a paranoid lunatic, she explained, "Don't get me wrong, I mean, how did you manage to... make it look like two completely different dogs?"

“It was able to stand up last night, and I fed it some food,” he added, seeing that she still looked puzzled. “I also gave it a bath.”

"No wonder, just like people, a dog's fur is its second face," Zuo Xutong suddenly realized, but at the same time couldn't help but be surprised, "You know how to bathe a dog?"

"It's not just that you can do it, you're good at it."

"Really?"

"You were still playing in the mud in kindergarten when I first gave the dog a bath."

Zuo Xutong was speechless, and said with an awkward laugh, "After all, you can't even cook well."

"That's because from childhood to adulthood, all I've ever been responsible for is making dog food."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zuo Xutong suddenly remembered something. She put down the dog in her arms, took out a boiled egg from her pocket, tapped it twice on the corner of the table, and began to peel it.

Peng Kun stared at the eggs in her hand and asked bluntly, "Did you steal them from the restaurant?"

Zuo Xutong glared at him: "Don't put it so harshly, I took it openly and honestly."

"I've never seen anyone eat and take things at a buffet."

"Fine, go ahead and report me." She smiled indifferently and even shrugged.

"It seems you're not afraid."

Schopenhauer said that a person who is kind to animals will not be cruel to people.

"His exact words were something like: 'A person who is cruel to animals will not be kind to people either.'"

"They're all pretty much the same anyway." Zuo Xutong threw the peeled eggshells into the trash can. Chu San smelled the smell and followed closely at her feet, wagging his tail vigorously.

She squatted down, broke the egg into several small pieces, and fed it to the dog in her palm. The dog devoured the food, as if it had never tasted such deliciousness in its life, and even licked the crumbs off her hand clean.

Peng Kun stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the harmonious scene of the man and dog, and suddenly felt that his presence was somewhat superfluous.

He turned and walked to the window, where two armchairs stood with a small coffee table between them. He sat down and gazed at the world outside, swallowed by the blizzard.

Fifty degrees below zero, the leaden clouds were so thick they blocked out the sunlight completely. Snowflakes mixed with ice pellets pelted the glass, the window frame whirring sharply. As far as the eye could see, there was only the white that seemed to destroy all life, the howling wind whipping it around like the blade of death, fierce and cruel.

Peng Kun frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "The hotel doesn't allow dogs, so we need to find a place to put it."

Zuo Xutong nodded, though she was extremely reluctant, she had no better choice. In a few days, they would be leaving this place.

"Will there be a place to take it?" she asked.

"I found a stray animal rescue center online and called them. Let's take it there tomorrow when the snow stops."

Zuo Xutong, holding Chu San in her arms, walked to the window and sat down on another single sofa. She sighed softly and said sadly, "If we hadn't taken that road that day and hadn't met Chu San, it would be frozen into an ice sculpture by now."

"Yes, it's quite lucky."

"Look how well-behaved it is. I haven't heard it bark once since I came in."

“Animals aren’t stupid; they know what humans dislike, especially stray animals, who are even more adept at reading people’s expressions,” Peng Kun said.

"I wonder how big it is," Zuo Xutong muttered. Although her voice was very soft, Peng Kun still heard her. He suddenly stood up, leaned over the coffee table between them, and pressed down on her like a mountain.

Zuo Xutong instinctively shrank back, looking at him warily: "What are you going to do?"

"Let me see how big it is, why are you hiding!" Peng Kun reached out his hand, and this time she didn't dodge. He directly pried open the dog's mouth and examined its teeth. Throughout the whole process, Chu San obediently lay in Zuo Xutong's arms, cooperating perfectly as he handled her.

"He should be no more than three years old, between one and three years old," Peng Kun said, then sat back down on his sofa.

Zuo Xutong hadn't heard a word, still embarrassed by her overreaction—this wasn't the first time. Perhaps her ex-boyfriend, a libido enthusiast, had left her with a psychological scar; she was always afraid of anything that suddenly came close.

In fact, ever since that veiled confession, Peng Kun has never said or done anything that crossed the line. When they were together, it seemed like he was always playing the role of the "sexual harasser."

She smoothed her hair, trying to hide her unease, and after a long while, she couldn't help but ask again, "Was it abandoned?"

"Maybe it got lost on its own," he said ambiguously, not wanting to give a direct and cruel answer.

"Couldn't it be born from a stray dog?"

Peng Kun shook his head, thinking that this was unlikely: "The winters in Hunhe are so cold that many wild animals cannot survive and are frozen to death. Stray animals have even worse survival abilities, let alone immature pups. If it was born to a stray dog, it probably wouldn't survive its first winter."

Zuo Xutong paused, a sharp pain shooting through her heart, her hands trembling slightly as she held the ninth grader. Outside the window, the snow fell silently, like an apocalypse without judgment.

Looking at the little life in her arms, she couldn't imagine what its future would hold, so she could only hug it tighter. At this moment, the little one seemed to sense her emotions, obediently licking her hand and burying its head deep into her arms.

Where is that rescue station?

"It's not far, about ten kilometers from here. The car is all arranged," he rambled on, unusually, to lighten the mood. "It's snowing heavily, and it's also during the Spring Festival. It was quite a struggle to find a driver willing to come..."

But she didn't care about these minor details, still holding the dog tightly in her arms, her heart filled with worry. It wasn't until she heard him say, "Oh no, I forgot to do the laundry," that she snapped out of her reverie: "The one it got dirty yesterday?"

"yes."

"What should we do? Is there a laundry room downstairs?"

"We have two washing machines, but no dryer. We're running out of time; the clothes won't dry after we wash them."

"How about... you wear my clothes for now? I brought two jackets," Zuo Xutong said.

Peng Kun froze, as if he had heard a joke: "Can your clothes even fit me?"

"The looser version, how about... you try it?"

"Won't it look like I'm wearing a swimsuit?"

Zuo Xutong imagined the scene and realized it was indeed a bit unseemly: "Never mind, I'll buy you one after the snow stops tomorrow."

"Can you do it?" he asked her skeptically.

"Don't worry, I have a good eye for fashion." She said confidently, but seeing that he still looked hesitant, she added, "Besides, you've bought me clothes before, haven't you?"

Peng Kun recalled the coat he had given her last time. It was a particularly cold and windy time, and he had specially chosen a windproof and waterproof cotton coat made of GORE-TEX fabric, but he had never seen her wear it.

The snow fell for a day and a night, and only gradually stopped at noon the next day.