Chapter 11

When a person is unlucky, it is like a pair of slippers just taken out of the bathroom, with the residual moisture sticking to the soles and the soles of the feet.

Every step leaves a footprint, and the sticky areas are everywhere.

Not only that, the shoes also squeak, reminding you that there is water.

But if you want to find tools to dry your shoes, you still have to step on them first.

For example, now——

Xia Lanzheng knew that it was not a good thing to have contact with the protagonist, but Bao Bao was still in the examination room, so she wanted to leave but couldn't.

Lu Yanqing, holding the dog, was led by the doctor to sit down.

The leash was wrapped around his wrist twice, leaving two blue veins on the back of his hand. Lu Yanqing touched the Border Collie's head and his eyes fell on Xia Lanzheng.

"Lan Zheng, what are you doing here?"

Every time Xia Lanzheng heard Lu Yanqing say her name, it felt like a feather was scraping across her earlobes, and she couldn't help but reach out and rub her ears.

"I have a lamb and brought it in for an examination."

The Border Collie had a serious look on his face as he squatted between them, his tail wagging uncontrollably.

The tip of the tail brushed against Xia Lanzheng's trouser leg, causing it to shake again and again, and air flowed into it.

Xia Lanzheng moved her right leg and listened to Lu Yanqing ask, "Is Baobao sick?"

"Bag..."

Xia Lanzheng stopped talking as he was surprised that Lu Yanqing actually knew that he had a lamb named Baobao.

The original owner and Lu Yanqing didn't have much contact - they met a few times at banquets, and twice through Chu Linchuan, and that was it.

The two people's social circles are completely different. Lu Yanqing never associates with Xia Lanzheng and his friends.

But when his friends saw Lu Yanqing, they would hide away. But the original owner was different. He would always approach him eagerly, as if he couldn't understand Lu Yanqing's expression.

——She is gentle on the surface and is polite to everyone, but there is never any emotion in her eyes.

Xia Lanzheng moved her legs again, moving away from the Border Collie, wondering how Lu Yanqing knew that?

Lu Yanqing brought the Bian Mu closer to him and said, "Lin Chuan told me."

Seeing that Xia Lanzheng's expression became even weirder, he said "hmm" with a hint of smile.

"Not long ago, Lin Chuan said that you raised a sheep at home and gave it a strange name."

Xia Lanzheng's thoughts had completely wandered off track.

Doesn't Chu Linchuan particularly hate bags? If he hates something, he should keep quiet. Why did he bring it up with Lu Yanqing?

After hearing the second half of the sentence, he came back to his senses and retorted that the name "Bao Bao" was not strange at all.

Lu Yanqing used his legs to block the Border Collie that was about to rush towards Xia Lanzheng and repeatedly asked, "Is Baobao sick?"

Xia Lanzheng glanced at the puppy and raised her legs: "Yu Yang... do you remember?"

Lu Yanqing twitched the corner of his mouth imperceptibly, and Xia Lanzheng didn't dare to mention this person again.

"He gave me a sheep as a gift, saying it was an imported pet sheep."

His fingers brushed against something wet. The Border Collie was nuzzling into his palm. He'd just eaten two starch sausages at the kindergarten entrance, so the smell must have been there.

Lu Yanqing grabbed the leash and said, "Draco."

The Border Collie barked and immediately sat right next to his feet.

Lu Yanqing asked again: "And then?"

Xia Lanzheng met the Bian Collie's gaze and quickly looked away.

"I met a friend last week and he said I was scammed, so I brought my bag for a checkup."

Lu Yanqing glanced at him and asked, "Do you like pet sheep?"

Xia Lanzheng pulled the tip of her hair: "I..."

As she was speaking, the phone at the front desk rang. The two rings rang suddenly and then suddenly became silent. Xia Lanzheng was startled.

His shoulders hunched for a moment, and only relaxed when someone came out of the room and called back.

The topic came to an abrupt end.

Lu Yanqing didn't wait for an answer. He lowered his eyes and saw Xia Lanzheng grabbing the edge of the stool. Her fingertips were white and she looked so pitiful.

Pretending?

The corners of Lu Yanqing's lips moved silently, but Xia Lanzheng's face turned slightly red, and she opened her mouth slightly and gasped softly.

Deliberately suppressing it, as if not wanting anyone to notice.

Lu Yanqing paused, unscrewed the undrinkable water, and suddenly pressed it against Xia Lanzheng's lips.

"drink."

The plump lip beads are squeezed by the edge of the bottle, like a cherry that has been squeezed to extract the juice.

Lu Yanqing didn't look anymore and shifted his gaze to the leash in his hand.

Xia Lanzheng didn't bother to be polite, swallowing heavily. A subtle movement came from the bottle, and Lu Yanqing raised his eyes again, suddenly meeting his gaze.

Xia Lanzheng pushed his hand away, licking the water on her lips that were about to drip. "Thank you, I'm a little sensitive to the ringing of the phone..."

Lu Yanqing was stunned for a few seconds.

The Border Collie stared at the water in his hand and whimpered twice.

He turned around and poured some into the bottle cap, placing it on the other side of his leg: "Drink it."

Neither of them spoke again, only the sound of the Border Collie licking its tongue, smacking.

Lu Yanqing drove Xia Lanzheng's face out of his mind, but she was sitting next to him, and her presence was quite noticeable.

He recalled the previous conversation and realized that he was indeed implying something. Even if Xia Lanzheng didn't answer, he could guess the answer.

For Xia Lanzheng, a pet of a common breed is tasteless to eat, but it is not a pity to throw it away.

They had only met a few times, but Lu Yanqing could read the complex greed in his forehead.

Although he was the youngest son of the Chu family and was loved by everyone, he was not satisfied and longed to make friends with the powerful.

However, starting from that night in Wanyuan, he put away the sharp needles, revealing his soft, caressable back.

Perhaps he discovered that pampering doesn't work, or perhaps he believes that people like ignorant sheep?

It really looks like a sheep. Lu Yanqing glanced at Xia Lanzheng.

Timid and timid.

When Xia Lanzheng is not saying flattering words, her voice is neither low nor sharp, but in the middle, like a trickle of water.

Lu Yanqing himself didn't realize that the fatigue caused by long-term insomnia had actually decreased.

He quickly averted his gaze, stroking the silver cufflinks on his suit. They were cold and hard, reflecting a hint of Xia Lanzheng's fair face.

The face was stretched and distorted, and his original appearance could not be seen.

After a long while, Xia Lanzheng finally came to her senses: "I don't like pet sheep. In fact, I don't even like sheep."

Lu Yanqing raised his eyelids. The clock across from him ticked slowly. The cartoon orange cat, perched on the second hand, was short and plump, its head drooping.

The young man next to him said something he didn't agree with.

Lu Yanqing breathed a sigh of relief. This was the Xia Lanzheng he knew.

Xia Lanzheng glanced at the landline phone in front of her, and a voice slowly floated over.

"But I love the bag so much that I don't want it to develop a congenital disease due to artificial intervention."

Lu Yanqing's hand, which was touching his cufflinks, paused, and the seconds he was counting in his mind suddenly stopped.

Xia Lanzheng frowned and leaned forward.

This was a gesture of dissatisfaction, something Lu Yanqing often saw at the negotiation table. The partners' attitudes were obvious, and one didn't need to think too hard to understand their true intentions.

But at this time, Lu Yanqing couldn't see through Xia Lanzheng.

He asked, "What are you angry about?"

"I hate being lied to," Xia Lanzheng said. "I won't play with Yu Yang anymore. He must have done it on purpose."

Not far away, the doctor came out of the puppy consultation room: "Mr. Lu, you can bring Draco in."

Lu Yanqing suddenly realized something, then stood up, bowed slightly and said to Xia Lanzheng, "Sorry, I'll go first."

"Ah," Xia Lanzheng waved, "bye."

Lu Yanqing walked away with Draco in a steady manner. He didn't smell minty today. Was it because he was with the puppy?

Xia Lanzheng stared at his back thoughtfully. He seemed to be very familiar with the doctor, and they greeted each other with smiles on their faces.

But when the doctor squatted down to touch the Border Collie at his feet, he interrupted him and said, "Draco has had a poor appetite recently. Could you please help check him?"

The man and the dog followed the doctor into the clinic. Xia Lanzheng leaned back in the chair, and her body finally warmed up.

What I said to Lu Yanqing just now was true, but the last sentence was said deliberately for him to hear.

The implication is, look, I have drawn a clear line between myself and Yu Yang and turned over a new leaf!

Xia Lanzheng wasn't sure whether Lu Yanqing believed it or not, but at least she had taken the first step.

Don’t worry, brainwashing must be done step by step.

The more serious a man is, the harder he is to deal with.

Especially this kind of thing where a suit is welded to the body is usually the most extravagant and perverted in melodramatic novels.

What belt, shirt...

Xia Lanzheng coughed to stop his thoughts. He was a straight man, and straight men didn't think about these things.

He went to the water dispenser to get a glass of water, and faint conversations could be heard in the lounge next door.

"Mr. Lu is here again? This is the fifth time this month."

"Oh, this is what it's like to raise a child for the first time," someone laughed. "If Draco eats one grain less, Mr. Lu will worry that he's sick."

"But to be honest, Mr. Lu really cares about Draco. This Border Collie has been sick for a long time, and we originally planned to keep him, but we didn't expect Mr. Lu to take the initiative and say he could adopt him."

Xia Lanzheng threw two pieces of ice into the cup and was about to leave, but when she heard the last sentence, she stopped where she was for some reason.

Was that Border Collie adopted by Lu Yanqing?

"That's right. In fact, many rich people keep pets just for their own pleasure."

"I get it. I'm just taking some photos and showing off my cat and dog lover image. Every time those little animals are brought to me, I sigh. How did they become like this?"

"So Mr. Lu is really nice. I see him walking his dog around here every day."

"It's so funny. He listened to Dr. Yuan and wanted to take notes in his notebook."

"Hey, why are you talking about this? I won't say any more. I haven't taken care of the lamb next door yet. I'm going to help keep an eye on it."

"Hey, where is it? I want to go check it out too."

"I fed him hay half an hour ago, so he should be checking his rumination now? Come on, he's so cute."

"Ah, its owner is quite cute too, a boy with curly hair, like a lamb."

"Hahahaha, they say pets and their owners become more and more alike. It seems this is true."

“…”

Xia Lanzheng held the bottom of the paper cup, hiding behind the greenery. The water below was scalding, the warmth penetrating the cup's walls and into her palm.

The ice floating on the surface was slowly melting, making the water above it icy.

Draco's examination was over quickly, and Dr. Yuan and Lu Yanqing had already come out of the clinic.

Dr. Yuan joked, "He's just picky about food, there's nothing else wrong with him. Mr. Lu, don't overindulge your child."

Lu Yanqing lowered his head and looked at Bian Mu, who grinned innocently. He laughed and said, "You're right. I was overly anxious because Draco was not in good health."

Xia Lanzheng was a little dazed by this scene.

Lu Yanqing outside the plot seems to be different from the well-dressed and meticulous character in the book.

The ice cubes have completely melted and the water in your hands is neither hot nor cold.

Warm.

"Mr. Xia." Someone called him from the other side.

Xia Lanzheng turned around and saw the doctor holding his bag and waving at him from the side of the examination room.

He took one last look at Lu Yanqing and entered the examination room with mixed feelings.

There were more than ten people standing in the small room. This scene made Xia Lanzheng inexplicably nervous, and she immediately forgot about Lu Yanqing.

"Doctor, what's wrong with the bag?"

"Baobao is definitely not the breed you described," the doctor showed Xia Lanzheng the diagnosis. "As for how big it will grow, we need to continue observing it. We can't make a conclusion right away."

Xia Lanzheng asked, "Is she in good health?"

"Don't worry, it's very healthy," the doctor said. "There's nothing wrong with it in every way."

They chatted like this for another ten minutes, and both of them were exhausted.

When we left the hospital, the sky was overcast with large dark clouds and it looked like it was going to rain.

"Woof!"

Draco appeared out of nowhere and called out excitedly to Xia Lanzheng.

Baobao also screamed, spread his legs, and hid to the other side around Xia Lanzheng.

"Draco."

Lu Yanqing pulled Bian Mu tighter and scolded him in a low voice.

He stood a few steps away, hung up the phone and looked over: "Sorry, is your bag okay?"

Xia Lanzheng had no intention of getting closer, especially since the Border Collie was staring at his lamb with a fierce look.

"It's fine. Very healthy."

"Ah, that's wonderful."

It was indeed an awkward conversation, even more boring than the glass of water just now.

"Then I..." Xia Lanzheng said, "Then I'll leave first?"

This time, Lu Yanqing did not answer immediately. He looked at the dark clouds above his head and called Xia Lanzheng's name.

Xia Lanzheng responded: "Hmm?"

Lu Yanqing tilted his head and whispered, "You just said you hate being lied to."

Unable to tell whether it was a statement or a question, Xia Lanzheng just listened without answering.

Lu Yanqing asked: "If you don't like being lied to, why do you lie?"

Xia Lanzheng's grip tightened.

Lied? What did he lie about?

It felt like there was a lamp hanging above my head, swaying and the dazzling circle of light shaking slightly.

The edge of the light occasionally shone on another person in the room, and Xia Lanzheng saw clearly that it was a pair of eyes like cold ponds, with a scrutinizing gaze.

The feeling of being interviewed came back.

What did the original owner say to Lu Yanqing?

Xia Lanzheng caught a glimpse of the black and white dog, and something flashed through her mind—

"Mr. Lu, I like dogs too."

"Actually, I love animals very much. When I was little, I thought about becoming a veterinarian."

The original owner's words were like a bolt from the blue, and sweat dripped from Xia Lanzheng's forehead.

It's over.

He heard Lu Yanqing laugh softly.

"Xia Lanzheng, you're obviously afraid of dogs."