Chapter 3: Puppy
But Luo Jing ended up going out after all.
Not because of milk tea.
As the car was about to start, Luo Jing’s sharp eyes caught sight of something seemingly moving towards them in the distance.
At first, he thought he was mistaken, but after a closer look, he realized there really was an unidentified creature moving.
“Brother,” Luo Jing pointed at the moving object, squinting uncertainly, “Is that a plastic bag?”
“It’s a puppy,” Huai Dan replied. “Are you nearsighted?”
It moved closer, and Luo Jing, looking again, realized it was indeed not a plastic bag.
It had been snowing for two days, and the ground was already covered with a layer of white, but the puppy running towards them seemed even whiter than the snow.
Its running gait was somewhat unsteady, as if it was injured.
Luo Jing hesitated, turning his head to consult Huai Dan: “I want to go check it out.”
Recalling Luo Jing’s earlier statement that “nothing could make him go out again,” Huai Dan found it amusing.
“Go ahead,” he said.
They got out of the car together. Luo Jing stood by the car door, watching the approaching puppy, feeling caught between going forward and staying back.
Why did he feel like the dog was coming straight for him?
Within seconds, he found his intuition was correct. The puppy, like a small white cannonball, ran straight towards him, showing no signs of slowing down.
Luo Jing hesitated between retreating and dodging, finally squatting down and opening his arms to steadily catch the puppy.
The caught puppy wriggled and nuzzled in Luo Jing’s arms like it was overjoyed. Luo Jing was momentarily overwhelmed, trying to process the puppy’s sudden and intense affection while looking up at Huai Dan, his eyes filled with a bit of helplessness.
It was the kind of look a child gives an adult when they encounter a situation they don’t know how to handle, instinctively seeking help.
Luo Jing thought this dog was too familiar too quickly.
Huai Dan stood aside, holding the umbrella, looking down at the snow-white, frolicking puppy and the child, also dressed in a white down jacket, with a slightly complex expression: “Do you know each other?”
Luo Jing: “?”
Hearing this, Luo Jing looked at the dog, so the dog looked at him.
Luo Jing looked up at Huai Dan, and the puppy followed his gaze to Huai Dan.
“No, we don’t,” Luo Jing said.
“Woof!” the puppy barked.
Looking at this scene, Huai Dan’s lips curled slightly, and he squatted down.
“Its hind leg seems to be injured,” Huai Dan gently touched the puppy’s hind leg.
The puppy finally calmed down, obediently standing on the ground, letting the two humans examine it. Luo Jing looked over and indeed saw an unnatural bend in its right hind leg.
“Doesn’t it have an owner?” Luo Jing parted the fur around its neck, finding no collar or anything similar.
“It might have run away, or been abandoned,” Huai Dan said.
“Brother, are you busy later?” Luo Jing asked hesitantly, stroking the puppy’s furry head. “I want to take it to the vet.”
“I’m free. Let’s go,” Huai Dan replied, glancing at the dog in his arms. “Do you need help?”
“No, no…” Luo Jing tried to lift the dog. It seemed to have finally had enough of playing and calmed down, letting Luo Jing handle it.
Luo Jing thought for a moment, then carried the dog into the back seat.
Huai Dan wasn’t familiar with the area, and Luo Jing had never had a pet, so it took them a while to find a nearby vet clinic that was still open and had a good reputation.
It was the New Year period, and the clinic was almost deserted. The receptionist was huddled behind the counter playing on her phone. She was a little surprised to see them come in, probably thinking no one would come at this time.
Most of the lights in the clinic were off, and there were several empty boxes stacked in the corner, seemingly prepared to close early for the New Year.
Although surprised, the receptionist only paused for a moment before turning her attention to the pet in the boy’s arms: “Is the puppy injured?”
Worried about putting pressure on the puppy’s wound, Luo Jing had been carefully holding its injured leg outwards, so the receptionist saw the injury at a glance.
“Yes, this… what should we do?” Luo Jing looked lost, like it was his first time at a vet clinic.
“Register first,” the receptionist said, taking a form from the table.
Luo Jing filled it out as best he could and handed it to her.
The receptionist glanced at the form and gestured for them to follow her inside: “It just so happens that no one else is here today. If you had come any later, we would have been about to close… How did the puppy get injured?”
“I don’t know, we just picked it up on the side of the road,” Luo Jing answered honestly.
The receptionist paused: “Oh, I see.”
This young man was quite kind-hearted.
The corridor wasn’t long, and they reached their destination as they spoke. Perhaps the excitement had worn off, the puppy now seemed a little listless. It didn’t struggle much when Luo Jing handed it to the receptionist, seeming very obedient.
Watching the little white dog enter the examination room, Luo Jing thought for a moment and pulled Huai Dan to sit on the chairs outside and wait.
“What are you going to do after it’s treated? Keep it?” Huai Dan asked.
Luo Jing hesitated for a second—the same expression he had worn when he was hesitating whether to give him his phone yesterday.
Then he said, “Keep it.”
“Don’t you need to tell your parents?”
“It’ll be a surprise.”
Huai Dan chuckled at his words.
Would it really be a surprise?
Luo Jing arranged a full set of treatments and checkups for the puppy. The waiting time felt particularly long, so after a while of silence, Huai Dan heard the child beside him mutter softly and resentfully: “I’m so bored.”
Huai Dan was replying to messages, so he just hummed in response.
Luo Jing felt it was a bit perfunctory.
“I’m so bored, brother,” he said again, this time louder and with exaggerated intonation, as if afraid of not attracting the attention of the person beside him.
Huai Dan had just finished replying to his messages. Hearing this, he chuckled softly, put away his phone, and looked at the child beside him: “What do you want to play?”
Looking over, he met Luo Jing’s resentful eyes and empty hands, and realized the reason for the child’s restlessness: “Did you forget your phone?”
“Left it in the car,” Luo Jing said gloomily.
“I’ll take you to get it.”
“No, it’s cold.”
Huai Dan thought for a moment and handed him his phone: “Want to play games?”
“No.” Luo Jing hesitated for a moment, then a strange glint appeared in his eyes: “I want to watch you play.”
Huai Dan felt a bit helpless and amused.
What kind of request was that?
But Luo Jing insisted on watching him play, and he inexplicably couldn’t refuse, so he unlocked his phone and opened the familiar icon.
Then they huddled together outside the examination room, playing several games.
Every time he killed an enemy, the child beside him was even more excited than he was. Huai Dan felt like he had a cheerleader sitting next to him.
But it wasn’t too noisy.
During this time, his friend sent countless team invitations, all of which Huai Dan rejected without blinking. Luo Jing saw this several times, finding it hard to ignore, and even felt a bit sorry for his friend.
“Why didn’t you accept?” Luo Jing asked, finally unable to hold back as he watched Huai Dan reject another invitation on the screen.
“He’s noisy,” Huai Dan replied.
“Oh.” Upon hearing this, Luo Jing, without thinking, abetted the tyranny: “Brother, you can block him.”
Huai Dan paused, then the corners of his lips curled slightly: “Really?”
Things weren’t developing quite as he had imagined.
“Yeah,” Luo Jing rarely saw something Huai Dan didn’t know how to do, so he became interested and reached out excitedly, “I’ll help you.”
Huai Dan tilted the screen towards Luo Jing to make it easier for the child to operate, letting him block his long-time friend.
Time flew by while playing games. Just as Luo Jing was getting excited, the receptionist came out: “Alright, come in and see the puppy.”
The game was nearing its end, and Huai Dan and his teammates were about to destroy the enemy’s defense tower. Luo Jing anxiously pressed Huai Dan’s arm, signaling him not to stop, his eyes glued to the screen, and his mouth replying: “Coming, coming…”
The receptionist said there was no rush, inwardly complaining that this young man’s love seemed rather fleeting, and reminded him to pay the remaining fees at the front desk before leaving.
As a large “Victory” appeared on the screen, Luo Jing finally looked away and stretched—anyone who didn’t know better would think he had been the one playing those games.
“Brother, you’re so amazing,” Luo Jing sincerely praised for the umpteenth time. “Let’s add each other as friends when we get back.”
“Mm.” Huai Dan put away his phone, noncommittal about his praise. “Let’s go inside and have a look first.”
As they had suspected, the puppy’s hind leg was fractured. The doctor said it was likely caused by a fall from a height. Apart from that, it had no other injuries and was healthy.
After treating the wound, the doctor prescribed some medicine, explained some precautions, and let them go, reminding Luo Jing to schedule a follow-up appointment after the New Year.
While listening to the doctor’s instructions, Luo Jing was unusually attentive, even borrowing Huai Dan’s phone to take notes in the notepad.
He had initially worried that it was just a whim, but now it seemed it wasn’t.
Huai Dan stood beside Luo Jing, watching the child diligently jot down keywords on the screen, a smile playing in his eyes.
He had initially thought this impromptu trip, tinged with restlessness and a desire to escape—a trip, so to speak—would be dull and boring.
But now he suddenly felt that it wasn’t so bad after all.
