Chapter 3 IN WHICH TODAY’S PUPPY ACTS SHAMELESSLY
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35
“Mr. Liang, please cooperate with the investigation.”
Liang Ren sits calmly in the interrogation room, as mild as a dove in the face of other people’s questioning.
“I received a call from my lover that Feng Fan had an accident and couldn’t be found, so I drove over there. I didn’t expect Feng Fan to escape. Instead, my lover was caught and beaten. My pheromones broke out in a moment of desperation… I am very sorry for losing my control in public. I am willing to accept corresponding reparation.”
Liang Ren’s cooperation and the assistance of a proficient team of lawyers made the questioning session run smoothly and end promptly.
“Are you all right, Da Liang?”
As soon as Liang Ren leaves the door, he meets Li Duoyu who has been waiting for a long time. He nods and responds, “Money settled everything… Are they all right?”
“Aside from the slap on his face, Feng Fan is fine everywhere else.” Li Duoyu unusually looks serious. “Zhen Xin just had a CT scan and has a slight concussion. He is still being checked for other injuries, but there are quite a few bruises.”
Liang Ren nods, and suddenly says, “I suggest you stop chasing him anymore.”
Li Duoyu is taken aback for a moment. Before he can react, he hears Liang Ren next words, “Because he’s my significant other.”
36
Zhen Xin fails to leave the hospital, not because of Feng Fan’s obstruction, but because Liang Ren has called and said that he would come to the hospital to see them in a while.
Zhen Xin stops struggling, and immediately lays down, allowing the neurosurgeon to check his head.
“Feng Fan, you didn’t lie to me, did you?” Zhen Xin is covered in a quilt, looking like a doll. “He really said he is coming?”
“Yes, Li Duoyu just went to pick him up. Do you need something? I’ll ask them to bring it.”
“No, no.” Zhen Xin contentedly closes his eyes. “I don’t need anything.”
He needs to rest and prepare himself. After all, he is going to catch a certain alpha.
——————
“Zhen Xin is your ex?” Li Duoyu’s jaw almost drops in shock. Never did he imagine that he almost poached his brother’s wife. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? If you have told me, I would not have flirted with him in front of you. You kid just stayed silent which made me look like an idiot.”
“We broke up, so what’s there to tell? Past is past. There’s no need to call him “ex” like it’s something dirty.”
“You’re really quite broad-minded.” Li Duoyu scoffs. “Anyway, we are heading to the hospital now. You just happen to be the hero who saves the beauty. Who knows, maybe you can reconcile and live happily ever after. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. Host a wedding feast this year, have a baby by next year…”
“You do know how to spin a tale,” Liang Ren sneers. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“If you don’t plan to get back together, why are you stopping someone else’s chance at romance?”
Li “flirt/loser in love/single so far/faceist” Duo Yu is speechless.
He really can’t understand this pair of lovers.
37
“There you are. Over here.” Feng Fan leads the way for the two people who came at the consultation desk. “I just invited a brain specialist. There shouldn’t be any major problems, but he was very excited just now. The doctor can’t find the reason for the stimulation, so he may have to be observed closely…”
Feng Fan pushes the door open, and falls into another shock.
“He was just awake and giggling by himself, why did he lie down again in a blink of an eye? Oh, he must have passed out. I’m going to see a doctor.”
“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.” Li Duoyu looks at Liang Ren who is quietly staring at the person on the bed. “Let Liang Ren worry about it. You, come with me to see a doctor to check your face again. It’s not very good-looking in the first place, what’s more if it’s disfigured?”
“Shut your mouth. Who said I need your help? I’m none of your business. Go worry about your ownself.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, Great Dr. Feng.” Li Duoyu forcibly hustles Feng Fan out of the ward. “A great man rarely stoops to pettiness or harbors grievance for past wrongs. Come with me.”
Don’t delay others of mending the fences.
——————
Li Duoyu and Feng Fan’s bickering voices fade in the distance, plunging the ward in silence. Zhen Xin, who is pretending to be asleep, can’t help curling his fingers in discomfort.
Why is he silent? Why just stand there without saying a word?
Zhen Xin’s mind buzzes. He even wonders whether Liang Ren would secretly kiss him like in those novels.
The shameful thought lend a light rose cast to Zhen Xin’s cheeks. Finally, he heard Liang Ren speak.
“How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?” Liang Ren’s tone is cold. “If you don’t want to see me, I’ll go right away.”
Zhen Xin reluctantly opens his eyes, unknowingly showing a vulnerable look.
This alpha is really annoying. Why can’t he follow the script just once?
He just got beaten. Shouldn’t he at least comfort him?
38
“Are you finally willing to open your eyes?”
Liang Ren feels a mixture of chagrin and amusement as he looks at the person whose head is tightly wrapped in gauze.
Despite their unresolved conflict and past instances where this little bstard intentionally upset him, seeing the young troublemaker lying injured and vulnerable in bed stirred feelings of compassion in him that he couldn’t ignore.
“I…” Zhen Xin’s normally eloquent tongue wilts at this moment “I was just too tired and fell asleep.”
Liang Ren just stares at him without speaking. Flustered, Zhen Xin averts his eyes and looks around.
His optimism and excitement, which had been kindled by Feng Fan’s favorable statement regarding Liang Ren, swiftly disappear upon encountering Liang Ren, leaving him with a sense of unease and hopelessness. The initial enthusiasm he felt is short-lived and never had the chance to fully materialize.
“I’m really injured, so I don’t have much energy.” Initially, Zhen Xin has intended to feign a sense of victimization, but as Liang Ren continues to ignore him, Zhen Xin starts to genuinely feel wronged. “I’m doing good things this time. Feng Fan, an omega, is no match against those four betas. I worked very hard to protect him.”
Zhen Xin looks at the other party in all seriousness.
I’m a good boy now.
39
Again and again, Liang Ren finds this person playing this trick with him.
Every time something wrong happens, he starts to behave pitifully.
It’s just like this when he met this little scavenger. When he asked him if he had eaten, he mumbled a yes. When asked what he ate, he would say it was a five-day-old cornmeal gruel.
When he brought him home under the pretext of hiring him as a housekeeper, he would open the door to a clean house, cooked meals and a pair of puppy eyes every time he returned from class.
He was always well-behaved, always restrained and meek, yet in the end, he eventually showed his true colors.
He didn’t even bow his head in the slightest. He ferociously crushed everything into the mud. When he said he was leaving home, he left; when he said he was blocking him, he blocked him; when he said he was breaking up, he broke up; and when he said he didn’t want him… he didn’t want him anymore.
The more Liang Ren thinks about it, the angrier he becomes, but it makes him laugh.
“Do I need to buy you a banner to hang on the wall for doing good deeds?”
Snorting coldly, Liang Ren puts down the bag he has been carrying on the small bedside cabinet.
“Since you’re so brave, you can stay in bed for a few more days.”
Before Zhen Xin can react, Liang Ren is already gone without a trace.
“Leaving just like that…”
Puppy Xin Xin pouts in frustration, then reaches for the bag Liang Ren brought.
A plump golden grapefruit rolls out of the bag and lands on the soft and fluffy quilt.
After a momentary astonishment, Zhen Xin delightedly picks up the grapefruit and brings it to the tip of his nose, affectionately rubbing it against his cheek.
He likes grapefruit the most!
40
“Mr. Liang, that person is here again.”
Liang Ren’s assistant looks embarrassed.
For some reason, someone has always been standing outside the company building these past few days.
Wearing a shirt and trousers, he looks like a salesman. When the security guard inquired his purpose, he said that he was looking for Mr. Liang Ren. After being told that he couldn’t meet him without an appointment, he still didn’t leave and just stayed quietly without making a fuss.
This man is indomitable. Even without seeing neither hide nor hair of Liang Ren, he still arrives on time every day, standing directly in front of Mr. Liang’s office for almost two hours.
After a week, the security team finally notified Liang Ren.
Oddly enough, when Liang Ren took a look through the window, he didn’t tell them to drive him away nor did he make an appointment to meet him. He just left this person hanging out there, as if they were a pair of grumpy lovers.
“If he’s here, then he’s here. What do you want me to do about it?” Liang Ren raises his head for a second, then burries himself in his work. “Do you have nothing else to do? Have you finished all your assigned tasks?”
The assistant secretly scolds the boss for being contradictory. Last time when he didn’t say anything about that person, he was scolded. This time he is still scolded even after reporting. It’s really frustrating.
But what can he do? The wage earner can only nod and bow.
“Then, I’ll go back to work now.”
Unaware of his assistant’s thoughts, Liang Ren tries to focus on the work at hand, then stands up in a few moments. He walks around for a bit, then his feet take him to the window.
From this point of view, Zhen Xin appears so tiny. The fool is standing under the sun without a shade. Doesn’t he know how to hide from the heat? He just keeps coming here.
An overwhelming irritation washes over Liang Ren.
What kind of trick is he up to?
He will go on a business trip tomorrow and will be away for a week!
41
“Boss, have a bottle of water!”
Zhen Xin happily buys himself a bottle of water. The weather is just too hot, and he is not made of iron. This afternoon, he has taken his clients to see some apartments.
But even though his body is tired, his spirit is happy.
He can’t help it. Ever since he heard from Feng Fan last time that Liang Ren is still pining for him, the tiny flame in his heart reignited, energizing his whole body.
He’s never been the petty and sulky type of person. In the past, he felt that Liang Ren despised and hated him, and he saw himself as a puppy who had been kicked out of the house. Knowing that he was unwelcome, he didn’t dare to go home even if he remembered the way.
Now that he knows that Liang Ren still has feelings for him, no matter how slight, he will not give up!
He just have to swallow his pride and lower his head. Anyway, it’s not like he’s not used to it.
“Pretty boy, you’ve been here for more than a week, haven’t you?” Zhen Xin looks so good-looking that even the convenience store owner is willing to talk to him. “I know you work hard in sales, but you can’t just wait around for business to come to you. You have to take the initiative and sell yourself.”
Zhen Xin smiles and nods. “Thank you for your advice. I also think I should take the initiative.”
But taking the initiative means he has to endure some hardships. After all, he had been childish and pigheaded, breaking his lover’s heart. He deserves to stand guard under the sun.
“Pretty boy, how old are you this year? Don’t you have a partner?”
“I already have one.” Zhen Xin smiles sweetly. “He’s wonderful!”
And I love him so much.
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