Lu Chengye was very well-loved in the Zhang family. Zhang Hang was a gentle and conscientious child, and kept his attention focused on Lu Chengye at all times. If the dog showed the slightest sign of a problem, he would discover it immediately. During his first week in the Zhang family, Lu Chengye didn"t go to the bathroom indoors a single time. Even in the middle of the night, as long as he barked a few times, Zhang Hang would get up and take him outside.
The problem was, Zhang Hang had to feel his way around at night due to severe night-blindness. Lu Chengye couldn"t help but be worried about it. He had heard that p.u.b.escent children could suffer from mild night-blindness if they were developing too quickly for their nutrient intake to keep up, but he was not a doctor, and didn"t know how serious Zhang Hang"s condition was. Regarding his daylight vision, Lu Chengye wasn"t concerned.
As the Labrador puppy had been cared for and kept clean by Zhang Hang, Zhang Qiming was very satisfied and proud of his son. He liked the spirited dog a lot, but his wife didn"t care much for animals with hair. Every time she saw Lu Chengye, she complained about how much trouble it would be to clean up the house when the dog shed his fur. She ended up hiring a part-time worker to keep the house free of dog hair, so she wouldn"t have to tire herself cleaning. Lu Chengye didn"t dislike the cleaning worker aunt1, as she would always secretly feed him meat. However, the meat was too oily and salty, because the aunt didn"t know how to properly care for dogs. That night, Lu Chengye was stuffed full of meat and shamefully failed to control his own body, having diarrhea in his clean dog bed.
Lu Chengye was deeply ashamed. In the middle of the night, he secretly climbed out of bed and tried to drag the dog bed with his small body, wanting to throw it into the yard to destroy all traces2 of his "accident". However, as a puppy, his strength was limited. Zhang Hang was awakened by his movements before Lu Chengye even reached the windowsill.
"Big Black?" Zhang Hang sat up in bed. Lu Chengye saw that he had paused slightly after sitting up, seemingly because he could not see clearly.
The boy felt his way to the window. Just as he was about to touch the dog bed, Lu Chengye barked in agitation, "Woof!"
Zhang Hang turned towards the sound and put a hand on Lu Chengye"s head before asking, "What"s the matter? Did you wet the bed?"
"Woof…" Lu Chengye bowed his head in shame. It was something much more disgraceful than peeing. He"d had diarrhea…
Lu Chengye was lax and sluggish by nature, not often taking things seriously. In the past, whenever he went to work, he dressed carelessly if it was not a formal occasion. He had no habit of being fussy about his appearance, and had never encountered any embarra.s.sing situations because of it. However, he was already more than 20 years old. This would definitely be a part of his black history3. He shrunk his head away to avoid Zhang Hang"s hand.
"It"s okay," the teenager gently said to Lu Chengye as he smiled. "Big Black is still very small. It"s normal to wet the bed. When I was little, I wet the bed too. There"s nothing to be ashamed of."
"Woof…" But I"m actually twenty-seven, Lu Chengye whispered in his heart.
"Don"t worry," Zhang Hang said, "I"ll hide the dog bed and be as quiet as I can so mom doesn"t notice."
Zhang Qiming was an understanding father, but if Zhao Xiaolian saw the dog p.o.o.ping indoors, Lu Chengye suspected he wouldn"t live to see the next morning.
Zhang Hang secretly hid the dog bed in the corner of the yard, then clumsily wiped Lu Chengye"s paws and behind. The whole process was quite shameful to Lu Chengye, but for the sake of his health, he stayed strong.
At this time, Zhang Hang discovered that Big Black had not peed in bed, but was suffering from diarrhea. He rubbed the little black head doubtfully. "Why do you have diarrhea? The food should be fine. Did you sleep on the cold floor and catch something?"
Lu Chengye didn"t say a word, resolutely refusing to admit that he"d greedily eaten too much of the fatty meat the cleaning worker aunt gave him.
"Sleep on my bed for now. Anyway, if I get up early in the morning to take care of the dog bed, my parents won"t know." Zhang Hang picked up Big Black, pet the soft fur of the puppy contentedly, and put him on his bed.
A person"s bed was more comfortable than a dog"s bed. Lu Chengye was silent for a while and declined to remind Zhang Hang that he had an upset stomach and may continue having diarrhea. He indulged himself in sleeping beside Zhang Hang for a night, but woke up often to check if he"d had another accident. Fortunately, he seemed to be doing well enough and had no more "incidents".
The next day, Zhang Hang washed the dog bed in secret while his parents were away. While he was doing so, Lu Chengye refused to look at it. This was definitely enough to qualify as black history!
Because he and Zhang Hang now shared a common secret, Lu Chengye felt that they had become close. His most embarra.s.sing moment had been seen. What use was there in caring?
He had also found it uncomfortable for a teenager to be his master. After this incident, Lu Chengye felt like he could accept these circ.u.mstances. Although Zhang Hang was a child, he was very serious and responsible when taking care of small animals. He would definitely be a competent person when he grew up. He is also paid attention to detail when working and was good at keeping secrets. From an adult"s perspective, Lu Chengye believed that Zhang Hang would grow to be a wonderful man in the future.
Although he was no longer human, he still wanted to recruit Zhang Hang to work in his own company when he grew up. This would warm his heart to see4.
Lu Chengye reached out his paw and put it on Zhang Hang"s palm, getting a bone biscuit as a reward.
"Dad, mom, look, Big Black is so smart! I only taught him handshake once and he learned it!" Zhang Hang showed off excitedly to Zhang Qiming and Zhao Xiaolian. Zhang Qiming nodded in a satisfactory manner. Zhao Xiaolian briefly looked up at Lu Chengye and asked lazily, "Is it vaccinated? Don"t let it go around and spread rabies."
Zhang Han"s enthusiasm deflated a bit. He replied obediently, "He"s already had two vaccinations, but can"t get the third one until next week."
"Mm. By the way," Zhao Xiaolian spoke abruptly, "Don"t you take that dog to your room to sleep at night? So unsanitary. Put it out in the yard tonight."
Lu Chengye thought he could feel maliciousness coming from this woman. He raised his head and looked at Zhang Hang with a pair of watery black eyes, tail unconsciously wagging. His small pink tongue stretched out to lick Zhang Hang"s palm.
This feeling of approaching danger pushed him to learn the essential skills of being a pet dog without being taught. It was a big step towards complete physical and mental integration!
Zhang Hang, seeing the adorable appearance of Big Black, was also quite reluctant to give him up. He held up the puppy and looked towards Zhang Qiming. The person and dog showed similar pitiful expressions. The two pairs of black and watery eyes stabbed at Zhang Qiming"s heart. He raised his hand to touch the dog and felt the lovely little head rub against his palm, which made his heart soften.
"Cough, the dog is too small to sleep outside right now. Let"s keep it indoors at night for the time being. I"ll talk to your mom about it later," he said.
"Dad, you"re so nice!" Zhang Hang put his arms around his father"s neck and rubbed against his chest affectionately. Lu Chengye, who was perched on Zhang Hang"s shoulder, tried to get a grip on his clothes. He then leaned against Zhang Qiming"s chest and rubbed it with his furry face.
Zhang Qiming suffered two heart attacks in a row. He hugged his son and dog, and felt as if his heart was blooming.
Lu Chengye wagged his tail happily. However, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Now that he"d become an adorable dog, was he a real man anymore? If his mind and body fully integrated together, would he come to like a girl dog?
Lu Chengye couldn"t help shaking when he thought about the 6-month-old Samoyed sister5 in the community. She had a lively personality and was very cute, throwing herself at him whenever she sees him, but he"d never be attracted to a dog!
Sure enough, he could not let himself go down the path of "how to be an excellent pet dog". Lu Chengye raised his head with determination as Zhang Hang threw something into the distance. "Big Black, bring it back."
Almost as soon as he said it, Lu Chengye ran out without thinking, caught the tennis ball before it hit the ground, and returned it to Zhang Hang"s hands with his tail wagging.
"Big Black is really smart. No wonder Labradors are trained to be guide dogs, their IQ is superior compared to other dogs." Zhang Qiming nodded. When he first bought the dog, he was afraid it would not live long because of its poor health. Now, it seemed that he"d made the right choice and life was all the better for it.
Lu Chengye: "…"
He would grow his fur so long that it"d completely cover his face!
Besides living his days as a dog, Lu Chengye"s life was very happy. At this point, he had achieved his dream of living life carefree until he died. Zhao Xiaolian may despise him, but she had no authority compared to Zhang Qiming who was the pillar of the family. Zhao Xiaolian was a full-time wife. Every day she put on make-up, went shopping, and played mahjong. Zhang Hang, as a student, also had no income. No matter how dissatisfied Zhao Xiaolian was with Lu Chengye, as long as Zhang Qiming said, "Hang can take care of him, Big Black is very intelligent," she would shut up.
As a matter of fact, Lu Chengye hated her right back. A dog"s nose is very sensitive, and Zhao Xiaolian would always apply very strong perfume. Even if she was far away, he couldn"t help sneezing. He was glad she hated him, as it gave her a reason to avoid him.
Lu Chengye, who used to like to use cologne, decided that if he ever changed back into a person, he would get rid of every bottle of cologne he owned. Instead of being manly, it just ruined his sense of smell.
Compared with Zhao Xiaolian, Zhang Hang had a very good smell around him. It was the unique scent of an energetic youth, and Lu Chengye liked it very much. Every time he picked it up, he would take a deep breath and sway around like an idiot. He just enjoyed it too much.
His little master smelled very nice! Wait…why his smell? What about his looks?
As he gazed up at Zhang Hang"s vibrant expression, Lu Chengye sadly found that he didn"t look as handsome as he smelled…
Author"s notes:
Congrats on Lu Chengye starting down the path to become a qualified loyal dog!
Small theater:
Lu Chengye: Getting diarrhea and acting cute, as well as sniffing like a fool… I"m ruining my own image! Author, if you come out, I promise not to bite you and give you rabies!
Zhang Hang: Ah? I forgot to get Big Black vaccinated. I"ll just go tomorrow ~(≧▽≦)/~
1. not literally his aunt. in Chinese a respectful form of address for an older woman is ‘aunt"↩
2. 毁尸灭迹, meaning to “chop up a corpse and obliterate all traces”. yeesh↩
3. refers to shameful or dark parts of his past he"d rather keep hidden↩
4. “warms the heart and delights the eye”, an idiom meaning something is pleasing or delightful↩
5. just like the previous mention of “aunt”, not his literal sister. respectful form of address for a female of similar age↩