Chapter 26
On the second weekend after Chen Mian moved into Zhou Zhixun's house, Zhou Zhixun personally drove her to the pet store.
All sorts of kittens and puppies are kept in transparent glass cages lined with white plush blankets, with two small holes in the doors for them to breathe.
The store is mostly frequented by parents and grandparents who bring their children to choose pets.
Chen Mian loves animals very much, whether they are furry or hairless, big or small.
Even now, she still naively hopes to own a huge zoo.
"Tiara, go take a look and see which one you like?"
"Huh?" Chen Mian asked in surprise, his gaze shifting from the store back to Zhou Zhixun's face. "Should I choose?"
She thought he had come to offer him advice.
“Yes,” Zhou Zhixun smiled at her, and gently patted her back. “I only know that you like Bern Hill, but you should find out for yourself what kind of personality you like.”
Chen Mian was initially powerless against these furry little creatures, and after some hesitation, he followed the shop assistant who came forward to introduce them, carefully selecting the items.
Zhou Zhixun followed behind her. The store was heated, and he had his black coat, which he had just taken off, draped over his arm.
The female shop assistant stared at Zhou Zhixun enviously for several moments, then exclaimed to Chen Mian, "I really envy you, you and your boyfriend have such a good relationship."
Not to mention that Chen Mian and Zhou Zhixun only exchanged a few words since they entered the store, and there was no physical contact between them. How could you tell that they were a couple with a good relationship?
Chen Mian was about to deny it when Zhou Zhixun suddenly pointed to the cage beside him and asked, "Tiara, is this Mount Bern?"
Chen Mian's attention was immediately drawn to him, and the words that were stuck in his throat were swallowed back down. "No, this is the Western Highlands, which is very different from the Bern Mountains."
To help Zhou Zhixun understand the differences between the two varieties more intuitively, Chen Mian took out his phone, opened the search bar, searched for images, and showed them to Zhou Zhixun, saying, "Look, the differences are huge."
“It is very big. I’m sorry, I don’t know much about these things,” Zhou Zhixun smiled and then naturally took the coat that Chen Mian had just taken off.
Distracted by him, Chen Mian had completely forgotten about what he wanted to clarify.
The pet store is very large, with three floors. The first floor houses various small animals, the second floor sells pet supplies, and the third floor is a lounge. If you get tired of shopping, you can simply wait for the staff to bring up a pet that meets your requirements for you to choose from.
After wandering around for a while, Chen Mian inexplicably felt like he was visiting a brothel, falling in love with every woman he saw.
But we probably can't keep that many at home anytime soon.
Zhou Zhixun looked at Chen Mian's conflicted profile and chuckled softly, "Do you like them both?"
Chen Mian nodded somewhat shyly, "Mm."
"How about this, let's pick one or two first, and then come back to buy more when you're able to take care of more, okay?"
"Can."
"Are you tired?" Zhou Zhixun glanced at the time on his watch. The hour hand pointed to twelve and the minute hand to three. Tiara had been wandering around this small shop for almost an hour.
It's already noon.
“Tiara”.
"Um?"
"Shall we go back and have lunch first? I'll ask Caleb to come over later so I can get his contact information and have them deliver the things to our house this afternoon."
Chen Mian looked back at the store with reluctance and nodded.
Inside the car, Zhou Zhixun asked her if there was anyone she liked. He wasn't angry at Chen Mian for being slow and dawdling; on the contrary, he was in a very pleasant mood.
Chen Mian thought for a moment and shook his head, "I like them all, but if I had to choose one, I wouldn't be able to."
"It's okay, you can look at them slowly after your afternoon nap. If you can't choose this store, there are other ones," Zhou Zhixun comforted her in a very relaxed tone.
Chen Mian could somehow make connections based on his expression, imagining that if Zhou Zhixun became a father, he would probably be a very patient and respectful parent.
After lunch, Chen Mian went upstairs to rest. Since moving in, she usually stays in her bedroom, except when she has to pass through the living room to eat or go out.
The bedroom is spacious, and you can see a whole stretch of flat, lush green lawn from the balcony. You won't feel bored even if you stay there all day.
Chen Mian was very self-aware. She was a complete stranger who had appeared here openly. She wasn't familiar with Zhou Zhixun, and they didn't have much to talk about. It was awkward and uncomfortable. Even if the other party didn't think so, she was still very tense.
Like the moment in class when the professor is browsing the roster and preparing to call on someone, you constantly pray that the professor won't call on your name.
This is so hard to endure.
Zhou Zhixun was in the living room, having changed into his pajamas. "Bella, when I'm not home, does that child rarely come downstairs?"
Bella is one of the servants in his household and is currently responsible for taking care of Tiara.
“Yes, sir.” Bella stood to the side of the sofa, head bowed, and answered respectfully, “Miss Tiara rarely spends long periods of time in the living room or other public spaces.”
The public spaces here refer to all areas other than the Tiara room.
"Does she usually come straight home after school, or does she stay out with her friends until evening?"
"I usually come back around dinnertime every day."
Zhou Zhixun nodded and said nothing more.
At 3 p.m. sharp, the pet shop staff appeared in the living room.
Bella was about to go upstairs to call Tiara when Zhou Zhixun stopped her, saying, "I'll go call Tiara."
He went upstairs and found that because Tiara had moved in, carpets had been laid in places where she would frequently walk, so that her slippers made no sound when she walked on them. The sharp corners of many cabinets and handrails had also been repaired to prevent her from bumping into them.
The pet store staff didn't dare to breathe too loudly. When Bella invited them to sit down, they merely ran their hands across the sofa surface and timidly shook their heads.
Zhou Zhixun stood outside Chen Mian's door, raised his hand and knocked on the door. He didn't knock loudly, because he was worried that a loud knock would suddenly wake her up and make her uncomfortable.
"Tiara, are you awake?"
Chen Mian did not wake up.
She has a habit of staying up late. Even if there's nothing to do at night, nothing to play, she'll just stare at her phone until 2 a.m. without even knowing which app to click.
Otherwise, she would feel like she'd lost out, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
Tiara
Zhou Zhixun called her a few more times, but received no response.
Seeing Zhou Zhixun come down alone, Bella kindly asked, "Sir, is Miss Tiara still asleep?"
"Okay, could you go into her room and check on her? Maybe she's sick."
Bella went upstairs, knocked a few times but received no response, so she quietly pressed the doorknob and went inside.
Chen Mian lay on the bench at the foot of the bed. Perhaps she was too lazy to change her clothes and didn't want to put the clothes she had already worn on the bed back on, so she just sat there on the bench, feeling a little stifled, and slept soundly.
"Miss Tiara, Miss Tiara."
Bella approached, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and patted her shoulder. Seeing that she was starting to wake up, she asked, "Do you want to sleep a little longer? The pet shop staff are here; the gentleman has been waiting for you for a long time."
When Chen Mian heard Bella mention Zhou Zhixun, he sat up groggily, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "What time is it now? Has Zhou Zhixun been waiting for a long time?"
It's already 3:30 in the afternoon.
Chen Mian was mostly awake now. She quickly got up, walked to the mirror, straightened her clothes and hair, and made herself look very presentable.
"I'm sorry," she said as she ran downstairs, and after seeing Zhou Zhixun and the pet store clerk, "I didn't know I would sleep for so long, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It's nothing," Zhou Zhixun said, getting up to greet her, his gaze lingering on the mark on Chen Mian's face.
These are the marks she left after curling up asleep on the bench at the foot of the bed.
Zhou Zhixun glanced at Bella, who was following behind Tiara, with disapproval and a hint of reproach. He only wanted to make sure Tiara wasn't sick; he didn't mean to ask her to wake Tiara up.
He wouldn't have asked someone else to do it if it weren't for the fact that it was inconvenient for him to enter the girls' bedroom.
"Don't rush, don't run and fall."
Chen Mian nodded, "I'm sorry," he said to the shop assistants.
The shop assistants shook their heads, displaying the pets they had brought with trepidation.
None of them wanted to stay there for another fifteen minutes.
They were the same ones I'd seen in the store that morning.
To get a closer look, Chen Mian squatted down on the ground. Zhou Zhixun had someone bring her a low stool, which was bought to make it easier for her to change her shoes.
"I haven't seen this one this morning, have I?"
Zhou Zhixun's gaze followed Chen Mian's words and turned to the West Highland dog in the corner.
“Yes,” the clerk said, bringing the cage closer. “This was just returned from another store.”
Chen Mian reached his index finger into the cage to touch it, but Zhou Zhixun stopped him, saying, "Tiara, you can't touch it yet."
"Fine, fine," Chen Mian reluctantly withdrew his finger. "Why was it returned?"
"Because... she's too lively."
Too lively?
"Yes, it chewed up two pairs of its owner's expensive leather shoes."
Chen Mian waved a bag of snacks in front of the dog through the cage. The West Highland White Terrier's eyes, like black grapes, darted around and followed the snacks in Chen Mian's hand.
"I want this one."
She turned to ask Zhou Zhixun for his opinion.
"Okay, this one will do."
Zhou Zhixun took care of all the subsequent adoption contracts and other arrangements.
Because it was just returned, this West Highland dog had already completed all its vaccinations and had undergone a check-up last week, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
However, Zhou Zhixun was still worried and asked Bella to take her to the vet for another check-up.
Only after everything is ready can it be sent back to Chen Mian.
"Let's think of a name for it first."
“popo”.
Why is it called that?
"It just popped into my head."
Because of Popo, Chen Mian finally started going downstairs and walking around instead of staying in his room for long periods of time.
Zhou Zhixun's house is very big, so there's no need to worry about Popo not having enough room to run around. It is indeed very lively, just as the shop assistant said, even a little too lively. It will carry Chen Mian's slippers around and hide Chen Mian's belongings, then bark in front of her to get her to play a game of finding things with it.
However, Popo is much more restrained when Zhou Zhixun is at home. It will occasionally lie down at Zhou Zhixun's feet to please him. If Zhou Zhixun does not touch it for more than half an hour, it will slink back to Chen Mian's feet and whimper softly to accuse Zhou Zhixun of arrogance.
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