Su Jinning swallowed nervously, her eyes darting away as she retorted, "Who said I'm afraid of dogs? I was just caught off guard and startled."
Shen Moyu looked at Su Jinning, who was pale with fright and kept leaning against the tree trunk, and shrugged incredulously: "Then you should take a look at it."
"..." Su Jinning's expression was a bit ugly, but when she looked at Shen Moyu's disgusted look, she looked defiantly at the sleeping puppy in his arms.
Shen Moyu was telling the truth. It really was a very, very small dog, about the size of a palm, probably less than a month old. It was skin and bones, and its fur, which should have had a golden sheen, was dirty and even matted. It was curled up asleep in Shen Moyu's school uniform with its eyes closed, looking somewhat pitiful, yet also endearing.
Su Jinning's initially frightened gaze slowly softened into tenderness. He pursed his lips, a feeling of pity welling up within him. He mustered his courage and reached out to gently stroke the puppy's head. Perhaps because his touch was so gentle, the puppy moved towards his hand and rolled over. This action amused Su Jinning, who asked with a smile, "So, you went missing this morning because of it?"
Shen Moyu smiled and looked at him, then nodded and said, "Well, my mom and Aunt Li went out this morning. I made breakfast myself. I was already in a rush, so I ran to school. Then I suddenly saw it by the roadside, limping. I was afraid something might happen to it on the way, so I picked it up. It wasn't seriously injured, but it's too small and definitely can't walk. I couldn't bear it, so I bandaged it up and went to the store next door to buy two sausages, which delayed me."
Su Jinning said somewhat angrily, "Then why didn't you answer the phone?"
“I…” Shen Moyu rubbed his nose and smiled sheepishly, “I left in a hurry this morning and left my phone at home.”
Su Jin listened quietly, then could only sigh helplessly, unable to bear blaming him: "I thought something had happened to you, I looked for you for ages."
Seeing his worried expression, Shen Moyu couldn't help but smile: "So concerned about me?"
Su Jinning was taken aback, her gaze lingering on the puppy. He chuckled softly and asked, "Otherwise?"
Shen Moyu smiled but did not answer.
The puppy seemed to have been woken up by the two people. It moved its head slightly, opened its big eyes, and stared at them blankly.
"It's awake." Su Jinning pointed at it, his face full of curiosity. His previous fear had gradually turned into an uncle-like smile. He stroked it and praised, "It's so cute."
Seeing how much Su Jinning liked it, Shen Moyu chuckled and placed the puppy in Su Jinning's hands: "You hold it."
"Hey, hey, hey! I can't hold it, it's so small, I'll drop it! No, no!" Su Jinning protested verbally while carefully taking the brown and yellow puppy. He held it in his palm with utmost care, afraid that it would fall if he wasn't careful. The puppy cooperated and soon obediently lay down in Su Jinning's palm, tilting its head to look at him.
"I can't take it anymore... It's so cute!" Su Jinning loves cute things. This little thing is already adorable enough, and now it's lying obediently in his palm, completely melting his heart.
"Weren't you just scared and about to climb the tree?" Shen Moyu sat on the ground, resting his chin on his hands as he looked at Su Jinning, whose eyes were shining.
"I didn't!" Su Jinning retorted, "I was just afraid of waking him up." After saying that, she continued to play with the puppy in her arms.
"I believe you." Shen Moyu rolled her eyes, then went over and petted the dog.
The puppy was placed on Su Jinning's chest, and when Shen Moyu leaned in, a strand of hair brushed against his chin.
He turned his head and smiled, then closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle breeze blowing in his face, and laughed refreshingly.
If only time could stand still for a little while longer.
There's a breeze to blow, a puppy to cuddle, and a boy to love.
"Hey, Su Jinning, let's give it a name." Shen Moyu looked at him expectantly, her eyes sparkling, which made Su Jinning's heart tighten.
"Ah... okay, what should we do?" Su Jinning looked down and asked him.
The puppy seemed to understand that they wanted to name it, and it rolled around happily, its little tongue gently licking Shen Moyu's fingers, its bright black eyes squinting, and it kept rubbing against the two people's palms.
"Hey, look at him! He's so good at acting cute! Rolling around like that." Shen Moyu smiled as he looked at Su Jinning, gently teasing the puppy with his finger.
Su Jinning stroked her chin and improvised: "Since it can roll so much, let's call it Rolling Roll."
"Pfft!" Shen Moyu rubbed her forehead and looked at him: "With your terrible naming skills, you should just give up."
"How could I be so bad at naming things? Are you suggesting I call him Little Yellow? That's even more corny than that." Su Jinning raised her chin defiantly, speaking with great conviction.
Shen Moyu just smiled. After a moment, he sighed softly: "That's all easy to solve. The most troublesome thing now is not knowing where to keep the dog."
"Huh?" Su Jinning asked incredulously, "Why don't you just put it at your house?"
"You make it sound so easy." Shen Moyu looked at the dog in his arms with regret: "I've loved dogs since I was a child, but my mom is allergic to dog hair and couldn't accept it, so we never had one." If he had had a dog to keep him company when he was a child, he wouldn't have been so lonely.
"Oh, I see..." Su Jinning lowered his voice and clicked his tongue in annoyance. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How about I contact some friends to see who can adopt it?"
"No!" Shen Moyu suddenly looked up at him, his gaze resolute. After saying that, he picked up the dog, then gently placed it back in his arms, looking at Su Jinning as if he had seen a dog trafficker.
"You even took it away. I didn't say I was going to give it away now." Su Jinning looked at Shen Moyu with a mix of amusement and exasperation. He had never seen Shen Moyu cherish something so much before.
"Woof!" The puppy barked softly, then buried its head in Shen Moyu's chest, as if expressing its dissatisfaction.
"Look, it disagrees too." Shen Moyu pouted without even realizing it, and affectionately petted the puppy.
Su Jinning could tell that Shen Moyu really liked the puppy; after all, he was the one who rescued it, so it was fate. For someone who had always wanted a dog but couldn't, no one would want to give it away.
"What should we do then?" Su Jinning couldn't bear to see Shen Moyu so disappointed.
Shen Moyu lowered his head and thought about it seriously, then suddenly looked up at him: "How about..." He blinked, his pleading gaze instantly reflecting towards Su Jinning.
"Hey! No, no, this won't do!" Su Jinning quickly waved her hand in refusal.
"No, please." Shen Moyu took two steps towards Su Jinning, holding the dog, his voice drawn out. He lifted the dog and brought it close to Su Jinning's face: "Look how cute he is, can you bear to give him away?"
Su Jinning pushed Shen Moyu's hand away, helplessly rubbing her forehead: "You're using moral blackmail."
"How about I tie you up once?" Shen Moyu said with a reasonable expression, then suddenly pulled Su Jinning's arm and pleaded, "I'll pay for the dog food and the doghouse, and I'll go see it this weekend, okay?"
Shen Moyu genuinely liked the dog and truly wanted to keep it. Her voice was soft and sweet, like a blazing fire that could melt ice into a pool of hot water. It was hard not to be swayed.
“No…” Su Jinning tried hard not to look at his pleading eyes and tapped his forehead: “It’s not about the money, I, I’ve never raised a dog before, I don’t know how…” After saying that, he sighed.
"You can learn if you don't know how! I'll teach you." This was the first time Shen Moyu had pleaded with Su Jinning like this, and it was also the first time Su Jinning hadn't directly beaten him after repeatedly disagreeing with his request.
Su Jinning clicked his tongue in hesitation and turned his head away. He really wanted to raise it, but Shen Moyu liked it so much, what if he didn't take good care of it...?
"Su Jinning, look at me." Shen Moyu lost her patience and gently tugged at his sleeve.