Chapter 16: Mother and child are safe; one is yellow, the other is black and white…
Yan Yuehe tossed and turned until she finally fell asleep as dawn broke.
The alarm clock went off every ten minutes at eight o'clock, and it took three rings to finally wake her up, as she was sleep-deprived.
After she hurriedly got out of bed, washed her face and brushed her teeth, there were only a few minutes left.
The chubby baby followed behind his mother, who was running around early in the morning, with inexplicable excitement.
Her son is indeed a promising student with great potential.
Yan Yuehe took a break from her busy schedule to feed her dog some treats, then stuffed whatever she might need into her bag, and finally opened the door before 9:01.
Gou Qing was already waiting at the door.
"Good morning, my dear in-law." Although Yan Yuehe hadn't slept enough, she was unusually energetic. "When did you arrive? Why didn't you knock?"
"I just arrived, no rush." Gou Qing got out of the car, lifted Pang Bao to the back seat first, and was about to go around to the other side to open the car door for Yan Yuehe when she had already pulled the handle and sat down herself.
Gou Qing smiled, and after getting into the car, she didn't rush to start it. Instead, she took out a plastic bag from the storage compartment and handed it over: "This is breakfast I brought for you."
...Does this mean she'll sleep in and skip breakfast?
That is indeed true.
Yan Yuehe took it but didn't eat it; she still had the cantaloupe-flavored gummy candy she had stuffed into her mouth before leaving.
The back seats fold flat, and the interior space is very large; two dogs can snuggle in the back without feeling cramped at all.
His hands rested casually on the steering wheel, and when he stopped at a red light, his index finger would tap the steering wheel lightly in time with the countdown.
Is it a small habit?
Yan Yuehe was engrossed in watching when a voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Why aren't you eating?"
“Eating it in the car might cause it to fall out.” Yan Yuehe awkwardly squeezed the sandwich in the bag. “I’ll eat it quickly when it’s ready.”
Gou Qing's car was very clean. He didn't put any car air freshener in it, but Yan Yuehe could still smell a very faint woody scent.
It was his scent.
Yesterday, when he stood behind her and patted her back, she smelled something before he pinched her nose.
"Eat up, I don't mind." Gou Qing's voice was steady. He added, "When we get there, we'll have to get Pang Bao familiar with the environment right away. There won't be much time for you to eat slowly. If you eat too fast, it's easy to have indigestion, which is bad for your health."
Very convincing.
Yan Yuehe sighed, thinking of her medical report: "So I really ate in the car?"
"Eat." Gou Qing smiled again; he seemed to have become unusually cheerful since yesterday. "Why are you sighing? Don't you like sandwiches? You can just order next time."
"I don't dislike anything. I'm not picky about food; I can eat anything." Yan Yuehe unpacked the neatly arranged packaging, took a bite, and found it full of filling—delicious.
She avoided his first question.
Gou Qing glanced at her but didn't ask any further questions.
...
Finally arriving at their destination, Yan Yuehe looked around with curiosity and exclaimed, "This place looks like a giant dog park!"
Many of the facilities she saw were the same ones she had seen in dog parks.
"Almost." Gou Qing parked the car outside the base.
Yan Yuehe temporarily held onto the two dogs. Perhaps Pangbao smelled the other dogs, because it was whimpering anxiously.
Atlas stretched out its paw and placed it on Fatty's body, then rubbed its soft nose against its ear.
Fatty was just humming softly, but when his wife came to comfort him, he immediately lay down on the ground and wailed dramatically.
Perhaps its performance was too fake, because Atlas patted its head with its paw and ignored Ren Pangbao's calls.
Fatty stood up again, feeling embarrassed.
Gou Qing walked over carrying a box.
After watching the whole show that Fatty Bao directed and starred in from afar, he said: "Your dog."
He hesitated for a moment, then, against his true feelings, he praised her, saying, "She's a very good actress."
Embarrassment shifted from the dog to Yan Yuehe's face: "Atlas is smart; he saw through Fatty's act at a glance."
How shameful! Why can't her dog son be like his dog wife and quietly be a dog?
Learning to train dogs requires establishing a foundation of trust.
Although the trust between Yan Yuehe and Pang Bao was somewhat shaken by the play just now, it was ultimately firmly maintained.
"Let's start with the simplest one?" Yan Yuehe is the only one here to learn today, and the teacher is naturally Gou Qing, who brought her here.
Yan Yuehe nodded, ready for anything.
To prevent Fatty from being distracted by other things, Atlas was sent to play elsewhere.
Now Fatty is forced to fight two people alone.
"Hold this snack high." Fatty was already standing up, wagging his tail, and sticking his tongue out halfway, as if he was about to drool.
Gou Qing sighed, "I'm really craving it."
Yan Yuehe couldn't bear to watch either; her saliva was almost dripping onto the ground.
Gou Qing said, "Lift it above its head."
Yan Yuehe did as instructed.
Fatty couldn't reach it, so it instinctively tried to pounce on its leg. Just as it was about to jump, it saw the man next to its mother staring intently at it.
It looks fierce.
It whimpered and wisely chose to wriggle its bottom and act cute.
"Move slowly behind it."
Because Gou Qing was watching her from the side, Yan Yuehe was extremely nervous and could not control her speed. She was either so slow that she could barely move, or so fast that Pang Bao would roll around in circles on the spot.
"Wait a minute, I'm going to put on some gloves," Gou Qing called out.
Fatty's drool was already dripping all over the floor; if he didn't get to eat soon, he would really cry in frustration.
Yan Yuehe asked, puzzled, "Why do you need to wear gloves? Do I have to wear them too?"
Gou Qing glanced down at her and said, "I'm going to hold your wrist and take you to find that speed."
So you're wearing gloves because you don't want to touch her?
“No.” Yan Yuehe spoke her mind, and Gou Qing immediately denied it, “If you don’t mind.”
It was just a wrist shake.
Yan Yuehe didn't think it was a big deal; her parents held hands the first time they met.
One minute later.
It was clearly just a wrist shake!
Yan Yuehe felt like she was going to faint.
His palms were so hot. As he slowly moved his hand over her wrist, the calluses on his fingertips brushed against her throbbing pulse, a sensation so distinct it sent shivers down her spine.
What's the difference between this and holding his hand and letting him feel how fast his heart beats?
Gou Qing's current posture looks like he's hugging her from behind, but Yan Yuehe knows that they haven't actually touched each other except for their hands.
"Say sit down." Gou Qing's voice and breath landed on her head.
Yan Yuehe was like a robot that would obey any command. She repeated, "Sit down."
Gou Qing released her wrist and stepped aside: "You can feed it now, and you can praise it a few times, but don't praise it too much. Fatty seems to be a dog that gets proud very easily."
Fatty barked, urging his slow-moving mother to hurry up.
This was repeated several times. Gou Qing stood a meter away and did not approach, only providing verbal guidance.
Yan Yuehe did a great job, and Pangbao also tried to sit down several times for the sake of the snacks.
“Puppies have limited attention spans, so don’t teach them too many commands at once.” Gou Qing glanced at his watch. “That’s all for this morning’s class. Let’s go have lunch.”
Yan Yuehe wasn't hungry yet, but she still followed Gou Qing.
The base has a canteen.
It's a bit like a university cafeteria, offering food from all over the world; you can get your food by swiping your card.
Yan Yuehe didn't have a card here, so she had to share one with Gou Qing: "My dear in-law, please order less food, I can't eat too much."
"Eat as much as you can, and I'll take care of anything you can't finish," Gou Qing said. "What do you want to eat? Choose for yourself."
Yan Yuehe blinked: "What do you mean?"
"It means we won't waste food." Gou Qing took the plate. "Choose."
Yan Yuehe took a deep breath, feeling that there was really not enough oxygen in the base, and she always felt a little short of breath.
She restrained herself and chose only a vegetarian dish.
Seeing that she really didn't want to choose, Gou Qing didn't force her. He simply took two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.
These were all dishes she had tried when we ate at the restaurant near the entrance of our neighborhood last time.
Yan Yuehe didn't realize that she really wasn't a picky eater.
However, because the sandwich in the morning was too heavy, she only ate a small half bowl of rice at noon before stopping.
Gou Qing wasn't lying; he finished off all the remaining dishes and didn't waste a single bit.
Yan Yuehe couldn't help but stare at his stomach a few more times: "Why is your stomach still flat even though you've eaten so much?"
"I exercise a lot, I'm strong, and my waist and abdomen are pretty firm." Gou Qing touched himself. "But compared to before I ate, they're still a bit bulging."
As he stroked his belly, his clothes clung to his body, and Yan Yuehe realized through the curve that her dog-like in-laws had abs.
Yan Yuehe patted her face.
When they reached the cafeteria entrance, they realized it was raining outside.
None of them brought umbrellas.
Gou Qing turned her head to the side: "Wait here for me? I'll go inside and borrow an umbrella."
"Okay." Yan Yuehe wasn't familiar with this place. She felt lazy after eating and didn't want to walk much. She quite liked watching the rain.
The base was built in the suburbs, with no other buildings around it, and a mountain in the distance, shrouded in rain and mist.
Yan Yuehe stood under the curtain watching, feeling inexplicably calm.
Gou Qing suddenly rushed out and shoved the umbrella in her hand at her: "Atlas seems to be about to give birth. I have to go and see her. You go back to the classroom where you had class this morning and rest."
Yan Yuehe exclaimed in surprise, "She's given birth? I'm coming too!"
“Pangbao is still in that classroom.” Gou Qing shook his head. “It’s not familiar with this place, so it would be better if you stayed with it.”
At this moment, he was still trying to calm her down: "Don't worry, Atlas will be fine. I'll come find you as soon as it's over there."
Yan Yuehe had just blurted it out; in reality, she knew she couldn't help in the past.
She pushed the umbrella back to him: "Here, take the umbrella, go quickly."
Gou Qing didn't take it; before she could force it on him, she ran into the rain.
...
Fatty didn't know his wife was about to give birth, and he was still making a fuss when his mother came back.
Yan Yuehe lost interest in taking a lunch break and simply pulled Pang Bao to continue practicing the morning's lessons.
Diligence can make up for lack of talent. After practicing for a while, without snacks, even a chubby baby can sit down on his bottom as soon as he hears "sit down".
The rain outside the window was getting heavier, and Yan Yuehe's message still hadn't received a response.
Waiting like this any longer is not going to work.
At 4:30 pm, Yan Yuehe voluntarily came out of the classroom.
Fatty wanted to run into the rain to play, but Yan Yuehe stopped him: "Fatty, Atlas is still working hard. Can't you be a little more mature?"
My dog is about to become a father, so he can't just play in the water all day anymore.
Before it got completely dark.
Yan Yuehe finally received a message from her dog-like in-laws.
"Mother and baby are safe; one is yellow, one is black and white, and one is mixed color."
"Wait for me, I'm coming to find you."
A note from the author:
Yay, we've become a real family.
One more plug—my ongoing sweet slice-of-life novel, "This Xu Is Not Xu," is available for you to read!
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