Chapter 28: That’s Too Strange

Translator: Mukyuu
Editor: Mikyuu

The two glanced at each other. Gu Shi glanced at Lin Rong, and Lin Rong looked back at him cautiously, his thoughts displayed on his face, What… are you trying to say?

The vet tech quickly finished giving the shot and the assistant brought the puppy back. “Done with the shot.” 

Lin Rong took Ning Yan into his arms. Ning Yan lay there and wagged his tail. 

Gu Shi let out a small cough and said casually, “Nothing, just that the story seemed intriguing. If you’re interested I’ll send you the link~” 

Lin Rong, “…” 

Ning Yan blinked in confusion. 

What, what? Look? Hey, come to think of it, it’s been a long time since he’s read anything!

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Nkd Ssdt, “…”

Such a long name. 

He then cautiously tapped the link and the screen changed to the official website for J-J Wenxue City. The synopsis of the story appeared on the screen. 

“One day, when nation’s idol XXX had wrapped up his activities for the day and was about to be driven back to his apartment, he saw a gang of dogs fighting over a chicken drumstick in the alleyway. Just then, a dirty and scruffy white puppy was chased out. After the puppy noticed him, it turned around and looked at him intently. 

XXX thought this might have been the moment the human fell in love with the dog. So he brought the white puppy back home, fed it delicious food, and held it in his arms, calling it his ‘baby’ and ‘stinkin’ baby.’ 

… Until one night, the white puppy turned into his rival, pushed him down on the bed, and said with teasing smile, ‘Stinkin’ baby?’” 

Lin Rong, “…” 

He stared at the synopsis for a full minute before struggling to move his gaze over to the white puppy. 

The white puppy wagged his tail and stared at him with round and wet eyes. He looked soft and well-behaved. 

… He looks nothing like someone who’d push him down on the bed and say anything with a teasing smile. 

Gu Shi then sent another message as follow up, “Oh, the main character of the book is the bottom and that white puppy is the top.” 

Gu Shi: “I don’t mean anything by it. You look like a top, really.” 

Lin Rong, “…”

Lin Rong took a deep breath, closed the website, and then continued to emotionlessly scroll through Weibo. 

Just a few minutes later, he stumbled across a pet-related post. 

It was a short video titled “The homeowners installed cameras at home and recorded the weird behaviors of their pet at home…” 

“…” Though Lin Rong didn’t understand where this strange sense of déjà vu was coming from, he couldn’t help but tap on the video. 

His phone was on silent, so the video had no sound, but luckily the image resolution was good and the uploader had even added text descriptions for what was happening in the video. 

It was a Golden Retriever. 

As the owner of the Golden Retriever left for work, the camera recorded the Golden Retriever calmly jumping onto the sofa, pressing down on the remote, and turning on the TV to watch. After it got tired of watching TV, it picked up the owner’s jacket on the sofa and draped it over itself. Then it went to sleep. When it woke up, it snuck a bite of the cupcake left on the coffee table. When it was done eating, it even dropped the plastic wrapper into the trash bag. 

The comment section looked like this: 

“??? Are we sure this dog isn’t human???”

“I’ll be damned, what happened to no animals are allowed to self-uplift after 1949?!” 

“So smart LOLOLOL” 

“… The uploader must have trained it to do this, too fake.” 

“The dog does things more methodologically than I do??” 

… 

Lin Rong looked at the video and expressions rotated across his face. 

Ning Yan thought, Lin Rong’s acting weird today. He’s been sitting there playing with his phone for way too long. 

That guy is not part of the ‘head-lowered crew’¹低头党 is Chinese slang for people who are phone/tablet/device obsessed because they keep their heads bent to do stuff on their devices.. Just like yesterday, when Lin Rong would spend some time on the phone before gazing off into the distance or coming over and giving him some pets. 

Ning Yan was a bit curious and couldn’t resist reaching out a paw and putting it on the man’s arm. 

Lin Rong jumped, looked up from the video, and then glanced at the white puppy. 

The puppy scooched forwards, asking for pets. 

Lin Rong’s gaze shifted and he again bent his head down to look at the video. His thoughts drifted back to the story and again to all the things he thought were bizarre about the white puppy. 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about some things, but those thoughts had been too out-of-this-world, so Lin Rong hadn’t bothered spending too much time on them. He had just assumed he had been daydreaming. 

But now, even though the hypothesis still remained ridiculous, those thoughts kept resurfacing in his mind and combining with the minuscule details he had noticed before. 

Lin Rong promised that some secrets, like those that Ning Yue and Yanyan couldn’t tell him, he wouldn’t care about. He could wait; he could be not-curious. 

But when he truly started realizing what the secret might be, his heart couldn’t help but beat faster. 

Can there really be such a strange thing in the world? 

He reached out and gently touched the white puppy’s head. 

The white puppy’s ears moved back in pleasure and his eyes squinted. 

Lin Rong stared at the puppy and thought about speaking, before keeping quiet. 

Suddenly, a vet tech arrived and interrupted Lin Rong’s thoughts. 

The vet tech brought a food bowl with some frozen chicken mounds and kibble. He smiled. “Dr. Gu said Sese hasn’t eaten yet and told me to bring something. Can you take a look and see if he can eat this?” 

As he said it, the vet tech placed the bowl of dog food down. 

As soon as he put it down, the starving Ning Yan’s eyes lit up and he immediately went over to inhale the food. 

This is his favorite beef-flavored kibble, and the frozen chicken mounds also taste good!

The vet tech relaxed at the sight and said happily, “Hahahaha, looks like he likes it.” 

Lin Rong, “…” 

He silently watched the white puppy wolfing down the dog food with a happy whine and covered his eyes. 

No, there’s no way that hypothesis can be real. 

He had actually seriously contemplated such a ridiculous thought. 

Lin Rong sighed and then looked at his phone again.

But it was true the white puppy was one strange dog. Though the Golden Retriever in the video might have been trained, the white puppy definitely behaved naturally. Lin Rong was actually curious about what the white puppy might do if left alone. 

As the white puppy, without a care in the world, continued to scarf down the kibble, the man placed an order on Taobao as a result of those thoughts. 

Ning Yan remained completely oblivious to what had happened. 

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After being treated with the saline drip for two days, Ning Yan was completely revived. 

Two days later, Lin Rong had to step out and he dropped Ning Yan off at the vet for a bath on his way. 

This was the first time someone other than Lin Rong helped give Ning Yan a bath, and he felt somewhat awkward the entire time. When Lin Rong picked him up, Ning Yan greeted him with a woeful expression. 

After they returned home, Ning Yan trotted over to his water bowl to take a drink. During the process, he lifted his head and spotted what seemed like a brand new, tiny, white electronic device on top of the tall shelf. It looked like a tiny speaker. 

Ning Yan gave it a cursory glance and then wagged his tail and bent his head down to continue drinking water. 

As for Lin Rong, he glanced at the small and exquisitely-made camera, then back at the white puppy, and let out a tiny cough. 

The next day, Lin Rong’s mother paid him a surprise visit. 

Mrs. Lin had traveled abroad for fun the week before and bought some stuff. That day, she came by to drop those things off with her son and also to fill up her son’s perpetually empty fridge with food. 

As soon as she walked in, she discovered the even more exaggeratedly covered walls of posters and let out a deep sigh. 

Ning Yan pawed at the ground self-consciously, scrunched his neck, and snuck off to the hide in the corner. 

He had been a bit embarrassed until he heard Mrs. Lin say as she walked towards Lin Rong’s room with the clothes she had bought for him, “Why are you so stubborn, son? It’s been so many years. Ning Yan doesn’t even like you. Can’t you let him go and make some new friends…? Hold on, listen to me. Mom has a friend who’s son just recently returned from abroad. Coincidentally, that kid is just like you, before—” 

Hmmmm?

Ning Yan’s ears perked up and his brow furrowed. He instinctively felt that something bad was about to happen and rushed right over. But just as he got to the door, a gust of wind blew by and the door slammed shut in his face with a firm bang. 

Ning Yan, “…” 

He stomped his paws and then pressed his ears anxiously against the door!

Why did she suddenly mention her friend’s son? Is she trying to set the big pervert up?

Ning Yan thought worriedly, What does “coincidentally the kid is just like you” mean?

Auntie²阿姨 is used here not as an indication of blood-relations, but as a respectful form of address for a woman who is part of your parents’ generation., there are types of gays; if he’s just like Lin Rong, then they’d both be tops and there’s no future for two tops!

A top needs to be with a bottom!