Chapter 8 is about the dog my family keeps.
After hanging up the phone, Fang Xingu sat by the canal for a while until there were more and more people on the street before he took Quan Quan and walked back.
The breakfast stalls on the street were already set up, and the air was filled with the aroma of food. Quan Quan couldn't resist the smell and kept turning back to look at Fang Xin, who was trying to get her to buy something to eat. Her eyes were darting around, and she looked very clever.
Fang Xin pretended not to see and continued walking forward, while Quan Quan stubbornly refused to move.
Fang Xin couldn't move it, so he squatted down and tapped its nose, trying to reason with it: "You can't eat puppies."
Quan Quan: "Awooooo!" I don't care, I want to eat!
Fang Xingu sighed and pinched its sturdy flesh: "Didn't you hear what your dad said? You need to lose weight. If you keep eating like this, you'll have to pay for a bath as a super fat dog from now on."
The man and the dog faced off on the roadside. In the end, it was Fang Xingu's stomach that growled first. He had been busy all night and had come out to walk the dog early in the morning. He hadn't eaten yet, so he was indeed hungry.
Fang Xingu rubbed his stomach as he stood up, turned ninety degrees stiffly, and walked towards the breakfast stall with Quan Quan in tow: "Dogs can't eat it, but people can."
There were many breakfast stalls on the street. Fang Xin glanced around and finally walked towards a fragrant fried dumpling stall. The old lady at the dumpling stall asked in her local accent, "What would you like to eat?"
Fang Xin replied in his local accent: "One serving of fried dumplings and tofu pudding."
Quan Quan squatted obediently at Fang Xingu's feet, its eyes full of anticipation for the food, completely unaware that it wasn't supposed to get any of the breakfast.
Grandma: Okay.
"The money has been paid."
A simple conversation drew several glances from a girl who was also waiting for breakfast.
At first, she was only attracted by the snow-white Samoyed. When she looked up again, she found that the dog owner was tall and upright with long legs and a breezy walk. Even if she couldn't see his face, he was at least a handsome man with a great presence. Now, when she heard his voice, it sounded familiar and very much like Fang Xin Gu.
Unfortunately, the other person was wrapped up tightly, and even the only visible eye was covered by the shadow of the brim of the hat, so it was impossible to see his face. Only a few strands of platinum blonde hair were visible from under the hat.
However, his height and hair color do match Fang Xin Gu's.
The girl chuckled to herself as she thought about it. How could a big star be walking his dog at such an ordinary breakfast stall so early in the morning? That would be too down-to-earth.
The girl didn't think much of it and took her scallion pancake from the owner to leave. But after taking only a few steps, she felt as if something was following her.
She looked back alertly and realized that the Samoyed from before was staring intently at the scallion pancake in her hand, and even took two steps with her.
Fang Xin had just taken his tofu pudding and fried dumplings with his left hand when he felt a pulling sensation in his right hand. He looked down and realized that Quan Quan had almost run off with someone else's scallion pancake.
Fang Xin hurriedly grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and pulled it back: "Jing Quan Quan! What are you doing!"
Quan Quan tilted its head back and whimpered pitifully, "Aww! I want to eat too!"
"Greedy dog," Fang Xingu tapped its head, then looked up apologetically at the girl, "I'm sorry, I scared you."
"It's okay, it's okay," the girl said, not angry at all. Instead, she was a little envious of Quan Quan's clean, fluffy white fur. "It's so cute, can I touch it?"
Fang Xin pinched the mouth of the circle: "Touch it."
The girl happily petted the dog for a while. Quan Quan was not shy to begin with, and the smell of scallion pancakes on the girl made it even happier, wagging its tail and making the girl laugh: "Ah, so cute!"
Quan Quan grinned sheepishly, but its eyes were glued to the scallion pancake in the girl's hand, its mouth practically watering. The girl looked at the pancake and then at Fang Xingu, asking uncertainly, "Can it eat this? How about I treat it to a scallion pancake?"
Fang Xingu felt utterly humiliated by the dog and quickly waved his hand, "Thank you, but no need, it can't eat these."
"Oh, oh," the girl patted the dog's head a couple more times, then suddenly asked Fang Xingu, "Handsome, has anyone ever told you that your voice sounds like Fang Xingu's?"
Fang Xin, the deceased: ...
He paused for a moment, then said ambiguously, "Uh, no, right?"
"Haha, it really looks like you. I almost thought you were the real person."
The girl stopped midway through her sentence because she realized that from her current squatting position, she could actually see the "dog owner's" eyes clearly from below. They were very beautiful eyes, constantly overlapping with the eyes of Fang Xingu in her memory.
She chuckled twice, then said jokingly, "...You wouldn't happen to be Fang Xin Gu, would you?"
Fang Xingu silently met her gaze, and after a long while, nodded without a sound.
Girl: "Huh???"
The girl was so excited she almost fainted. She let out a short cry, then immediately shut up, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed the little incident before stammering, "You...you...is it really you? How did you end up in Jiangcheng?"
"Huh? Because I'm from Jiangcheng?"
The girl clenched her teeth in embarrassment. What kind of question had she asked?!
The girl took a deep breath, held up her phone cautiously, and asked, "Can we take a picture together?"
She regretted it as soon as she said it. Was it too inappropriate to ask for a photo right away?
Fang Xin didn't think much of it and pointed to the side: "Okay, let's go over there, there are fewer people there."
The girl was still bewildered when she walked to the flower bed on the side, not expecting Fang Xingu to be so easy to talk to.
Fang Xin just agreed like that?
The girl stiffly raised her phone to take a selfie, but hesitated when her finger hovered over the beauty camera. She was worried that her exaggerated beauty settings would make Fang Xin look like an alien. In the end, she resolutely opened the original camera.
At this moment, Fang Xingu, who was standing behind the girl, had already taken off his mask and hat. He put one hand into his hair, brushed the hair back, and half-squatted down to cooperate by moving closer to the girl's camera.
The girl's heart was pounding. I'm not dreaming, this really is Fang Xin Gu!
Her gaze was fixed on Fang Xin's face on the phone screen, unable to look away. Although they maintained a proper social distance, she was so nervous that she dared not breathe.
Holy crap, how can someone look this good even with the Apple's default camera lens!
In fact, Fang Xingu's face was somewhat sickly pale, and because he had barely slept the night before, there were still some dark circles under his eyes. Even his hair was frizzy. But these minor flaws were insignificant on his delicate face. Instead, they made his features more three-dimensional under the camera, adding a touch of nonchalant handsomeness.
Just as the girl felt like she couldn't breathe, Quan Quan squeezed into the frame, biting Fang Xin Gu's trouser leg, its eyes full of resentment: It's one thing to not take me to eat, but now it doesn't even take me to take pictures!
Fang Xin had no choice but to ask, "Can I bring it along for the photoshoot?"
The girl finally dared to breathe: "Okay, okay."
So Fang Xin picked up Quan Quan and carried it to the stone steps at the edge of the flower bed, and finally took a photo of the two of them and the dog.
Looking at the photo of Fang Xin Gu raising one of the Samoyed's paws to wave at the camera, the girl felt completely charmed: "You have a dog? It's so well-behaved."
Fang Xingu pondered for a moment how to answer. Although Quan Quan was rescued by him and Jing Yitong, he did not intend to adopt it at the time. However, Jing Yitong insisted on taking it home, and in the end, the two families raised it together.
Fang Xin could only give a vague answer: "It's a dog kept by my family."
"Oh, so your family raised you?" The girl didn't dwell on the question too much. She secretly sized up Fang Xingu several times, and after much hesitation, she closed her eyes and asked resolutely, "I haven't heard from you in a long time. Many people say you're planning to retire from the entertainment industry... Is that true?"
Upon hearing the girl's question, Fang Xingu paused for a moment before replying, "I won't leave the entertainment industry."
The girl was stunned for a while before she dared to believe she wasn't hallucinating: "Really?!"
Fang Xingu was a little confused: "I've already renewed my contract with the company... didn't you know?" He remembered that Qi Qiu should have mentioned this publicly online a few days ago, right?
However, it is clear that Fang Xin did not go online much during his illness, and Qi Qiu's statement could not reverse the completely skewed trend in the fan circle.
The girl's expression immediately turned guilty: "You mean Qi Qiu? Uh, we thought that was just an excuse he came up with for the company, since you've been missing for so long, it doesn't seem like you've renewed your contract..."
This is a big misunderstanding. Fang Xingu felt a little sorry for Qi Qiu but also found it funny. He waved his hand to help Qi Qiu clarify: "I was sick a while ago and was just discharged from the hospital these past two days, which is why I disappeared for so long. I will have work coming up soon."
The girl gasped, finally realizing something was wrong: "You haven't been in the hospital ever since the concert ended, have you?"
Fang Xin nodded weakly: "Don't worry, I've recovered now."
The girl was heartbroken, but she couldn't think of any words of comfort, so she could only say, "I'm glad you're alright."
"Don't worry," Fang Xingu patted Quan Quan's head, "I have to go home and feed the dog, I'm leaving now."
The girl realized she had been chatting with Fang Xingu for too long, and she said a little embarrassedly, "Then I won't bother you anymore. By the way, can we post our photo and conversation online?"
“Okay,” Fang Xingu readily agreed, “just don’t reveal that I’m in Jiangcheng.”
The girl gave an OK sign: "No problem! Bye-bye."
Fang Xin waved and said, "Be careful on the road."
After saying goodbye to the fans she had met on the street, Fang Xin Gu was about to leave with Quan Quan in her hand. But the naughty dog seemed to have its soul attached to the pancake, turning back every few steps and staring intently at the pancake in the girl's hand. No matter how hard Fang Xin Gu tried, she couldn't move it.
Fang Xingu awkwardly exchanged a glance with the girl, and finally had no choice but to pick up the dog, hoist it onto his shoulder, bury his face as if embarrassed, and quicken his pace to leave.
The girl suppressed her excitement and watched them leave, wondering who was always saying online that Fang Xin had a bad temper!
She had tried to meet Fang Xingu in person before, but this was the first time she had been so close to him. In just a short conversation, she could feel how approachable and down-to-earth Fang Xingu was, much better than her disgusting colleagues at her company.
...No, her priority right now should be going online to share this good news with fellow fans!
.
When Fang Xin returned home with Quan Quan, Wang Jinxu had already finished breakfast and was sitting at the table reading a book.
Upon seeing Fang Xingu and the breakfast he was carrying, Wang Jinxu asked in surprise, "You actually went to buy breakfast? Didn't you sleep all night?"
"I suddenly got hungry while walking the dog, so I bought some," Fang Xingu said, avoiding the main point, and placed the breakfast on the table, asking Wang Jinxu, "Would you like some?"
Wang Jinxu frowned slightly as she looked at the oily fried dumplings he had bought: "Greasy. When did you start liking to eat these?"
"...This stall has fewer people."
Wang Jinxu looked away: "You eat it yourself."
Fang Xingu responded, bent down to arrange Quan Quan's breakfast, and then made himself a dipping sauce with vinegar and chili oil before sitting down at the table to eat.
He would take a few bites and then look up at Wang Jinxu, repeating this over and over until finally Wang Jinxu couldn't take it anymore and asked, "What are you doing?"
Fang Xin swallowed the fried dumpling in his mouth: "Grandma, don't you think our family and the Jing family live too close?"
Wang Jinxu adjusted her reading glasses and turned the pages of the book in her hand: "It's alright, it's just that your two buildings are a bit close to each other."
Upon hearing that the topic had swung to what he wanted to talk about, Fang Xingu put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "That's what I wanted to say. Our houses are too close. I can see his room clearly from my room. It's too much of a lack of privacy. I was thinking about whether we could add a partition in the middle."
Wang Jinxu looked at him strangely: "You forgot?"
Fang Xin gave him a questioning look: "What?"
Wang Jinxu's gaze returned to the book in her hands: "There used to be an osmanthus tree between your two buildings, which would have separated the two buildings. Later, when you were six years old, you moved to the small building to live alone for the first time. You were so scared at night that you cried and cried. You insisted on cutting down the osmanthus tree, saying that it would keep watch over Jing Yitong's room and make you less afraid at night. We couldn't stand by and watch over you, so we moved the osmanthus tree to the back door."
Wang Jinxu concluded: "You're the one who complains about having partitions, and you're the one who complains about not having partitions either. You're hard to please."
Fang Xin Gu: ...
A note from the author:
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Fang Xin, now an adult: ...dared not speak.
Young Fang Xin Gu: Hehe, I dare!
Qiu Gui: [Clown.jpg]
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