Puppy and Bite Marks

Lin Yang lowered her eyes to the hooked pinky and said deliberately, “Since when did I keep one?”

Xu Zhitong said, “Aren’t you keeping me?”

She pointed at herself with her other hand and suddenly blurted out, “A gilded puppy.”

Lin Yang: ?

Absurd.

Xu Zhitong folded Lin Yang’s fingers down one by one and counted for her.

“Look, you give me at least this much money every month. And you help me write my livestream outlines, manage the backend, and make breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Lin Yang let her hand be toyed with and didn’t pull away. Her expression stayed cool as she poured cold water on it. “That sounds more like an assistant.”

Xu Zhitong said, “Then what should I do? Should I pay you a salary? But when have you ever heard of a gilded puppy paying the owner?”

When she said owner, she leaned in a little and looked at Lin Yang with a smile.

Very scheming.

“……”

Lin Yang choked on the title and almost felt her face heat up.

After a while, she said, “Can you use normal words? Don’t call me weird things.”

Xu Zhitong looked innocent. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to call it?”

Lin Yang didn’t take the bait.

Xu Zhitong actually looked a little disappointed. “A canary corresponds to a patron, and a puppy corresponds to the owner, so you pick. What do you want me to call you?”

She tilted her face up to look at Lin Yang, her curled lashes making her disappointment seem genuine.

Out of nowhere, Lin Yang thought of last night’s kiss. Before that, Xu Zhitong had looked at her with bright, sparkling eyes and called her “wife.”

Her hand drew back slightly; the tips of her ears turned red.

Anyone could tell she had thought of something very indecent.

Xu Zhitong had been watching Lin Yang the whole time, so of course she noticed.

She immediately scooted closer on the sofa, wanting to press her luck a little further.

Her tone turned even clingier, sticky-sweet, as she asked, “Say it quickly. What should I call you?”

Just as she was about to lean in too close, maybe even continue what they hadn’t finished last night, a phone suddenly rang from the side.

Lin Yang almost bolted as she reached for the phone beside her.

Xu Zhitong was shoved aside and glared at the phone in fury.

What was going on? Everyone was calling so early in the morning.

Lin Yang had already moved away a little, leaving half an arm’s length between them. Xu Zhitong saw that the caller ID on the screen read “Chu Ling.”

Who was that?

The name looked female.

Lin Yang answered and said, “Senior.”

Oh, it was that senior.

Damn, it was the same senior who could go abroad and have meals with Lin Yang.

The room was quiet. Xu Zhitong pricked up her ears to listen to the voice on the other end.

The senior had a crisp, cool female voice and was very direct. “Lya, got lunch plans? Ah Ci just wrapped up her project. Let’s eat together, and we can hold a small meeting at my place this afternoon.”

Lya?

Xu Zhitong asked softly, “Is that your English name?”

Lin Yang glanced at Xu Zhitong and nodded slightly. Then she said into the phone, “I’m not free to go out right now. Can we talk online?”

Senior: “Busy bee. Something come up at your place?”

Lin Yang: “No, I’m with a friend.”

Senior: “Is that so? Ah Ci got dumped; you’re about to miss a very entertaining lunch story.”

After saying that, the senior added, “Well, since you’re not here, Ah Ci probably won’t say it anyway. If she confides in me, I’ll just tell her she deserves it.”

Lin Yang was surprised. “When did she start dating? Doesn’t she work overtime until midnight every day?”

The senior sounded amused. “Exactly. She was even calling a mobile game ‘wife’ on her phone before. Could it be an online romance gone wrong? No, I have to know. Since you’ve got lunch plans, how about tonight?”

Lin Yang glanced at Xu Zhitong again.

Xu Zhitong’s radar went off instantly.

This senior kept asking Lin Yang out; did she have some unspeakable intentions toward her?

They said they were friends, but she had also climbed from friend to girlfriend.

You can’t forget the road you came from.

Xu Zhitong panicked. Afraid Lin Yang would really agree, and since she couldn’t drink and the doctor wouldn’t let her go to unfamiliar, possibly stimulating places, she tugged on Lin Yang’s pinky with pleading eyes and gave it a hard shake.

Hello, we just made a pinky promise a second ago. No cheating.

Lin Yang understood the gesture, and the corner of her lips twitched as if she wanted to laugh.

She held it in, then said, “I can’t make it these next few days.”

Her gaze lifted, and she looked at Xu Zhitong, who was guarding the line with such adorable vigilance.

Slowly, she said, “Mm, a friend left a puppy with me for temporary care. She gets a little separation anxiety; I can’t leave.”

…?

She pointed at herself. Me?

Lin Yang shrugged.

Xu Zhitong instantly felt itchy inside.

She lowered her head, looked at Lin Yang’s hand in hers, and gently bit the back of that fair, soft hand that felt like tofu.

She left behind a very shallow ring of tooth marks.

Then she deliberately bit the knuckles of Lin Yang’s fingers, curled them up, and held one between her teeth with just the right amount of force.

Lin Yang immediately tried to pull her hand back. Xu Zhitong refused, following after it with her head. Lin Yang raised a hand to cover the lower half of Xu Zhitong’s face.

Xu Zhitong froze.

Half-tilting her head back, she stared straight at Lin Yang. By instinct alone, she even stuck out her tongue and licked Lin Yang’s palm.

The warm dampness made Lin Yang’s arm, scalp, and half her body go numb in an instant; her palm was far too sensitive.

Lin Yang’s pupils shrank. She yanked her hand away at once, frowning as she glared at Xu Zhitong while also moving the phone farther away.

In a low voice, she said, “Don’t mess around.”

The senior’s voice cut off. “Mm? What’s going on over there?”

Lin Yang and Xu Zhitong stared at each other.

After a moment, Lin Yang looked away, bit her lip, and said, “Nothing. The puppy came to ask me for food.”

The senior paused. “Is that so.”

She sounded a little suspicious, but soon said, “Forget it. With how chaste you are… I still have things to do. After lunch, we’ll meet online. Later, have Ah Ci send you the meeting link.”

The call ended.

And the Lin Yang the senior considered chaste had a flushed face, was biting her lower lip, and almost immediately stood up.

She warned the half-seated Xu Zhitong, “You can’t do that again next time.”

“Okay,” Xu Zhitong agreed very quickly, then asked eagerly, “So what meeting are you holding? Are you and that senior close? And that Ah Ci too?”

“We’re all alumni; we get along pretty well. It’s a project we’re planning to do together recently.”

After a pause, Lin Yang softened her tone and added, “It won’t be very busy. After lunch, I’ll go to the study for the online meeting, okay?”

Fine, it was work.

Xu Zhitong was obedient and asked, “Can I listen?”

Lin Yang said yes.

Xu Zhitong took the initiative to handle lunch and fumbled through a grocery delivery order on a mobile app herself.

Although she still didn’t have an official title with Lin Yang.

Xu Zhitong was full of motivation.

After all, after her efforts all morning, Lin Yang no longer rejected her closeness.

Her attitude had also softened.

Xu Zhitong made a full spread of four dishes and one soup.

She wanted to fatten Lin Yang up a little.

When Lin Yang saw so many dishes, she asked, “Are there two invisible people at home?”

Even so, Lin Yang still ate seriously and said it was very tasty.

After lunch, the two went into the study.

Across from the desk in the study was a small dark green two-person sofa. Xu Zhitong dug a detective novel out of the bookshelf and sat down on the sofa.

Lin Yang turned on the speaker.

The online meeting consisted only of the three people Lin Yang had mentioned.

One was Senior Chu Ling. Her voice was clear and cool, and she didn’t speak much; she only occasionally offered a few opinions or said directly, “The budget here can be increased.”

The other had a strange name, Yan Ci. Her voice was flatter, and she kept talking in very technical terms.

Their meeting mostly consisted of Yan Ci talking about the project’s technical progress. While Lin Yang slowly marked key points on her tablet, she would occasionally add something for Yan Ci or ask a few questions.

Lin Yang looked very serious in a meeting. Her hair was tied up; her eyes were lowered, and from her voice to her movements, she was calm and cool.

Today she was wearing a long tassel earring, which brushed lightly against her cheek as she looked down and shimmered.

Xu Zhitong didn’t get through two pages before she stopped reading altogether and focused on looking at Lin Yang.

The conversation was full of highly professional terms and English abbreviations she didn’t understand at all.

After being fascinated for a while, Xu Zhitong suddenly realized that she might as well be illiterate.

No.

At her current stage, she was probably no different from being illiterate.

She only had memories up to age seventeen, and she hadn’t yet reached the period when everyone was at their smartest—senior year of high school.

Not to mention anything related to college or her major.

What had she studied in college again?

Xu Zhitong glanced at Lin Yang a couple more times before opening Weixin to search.

Class group chat… ah, there it was. English Department?

What was there to learn in that?

Xu Zhitong was a little puzzled. She opened the class group chat, but only one or two people posted stickers now and then; no one was actually talking.

She casually searched the dorm group chat and found one.

[Doing Three Is Better Than Doing Zero (3)]

Who was going to be number 3? She was a woman with a wife.

Xu Zhitong was a little confused.

Still, there were only three people in their dorm? That was pretty nice.

Because she’d changed phones, the chat history only had one conversation left, from the beginning of this month.

[Roommate A: Tongzi, are you coming to the class reunion this year? The monitor asked me privately.]

[ZZZ: When is it?]

[Roommate B: What’s going on? Last time Zhuang Junqi made such a scene, why is the monitor still asking Tongzi?]

[Roommate A: Zhuang can’t come. She moved to Liucheng in the first half of the year; even by plane it takes three hours.]

[Roommate A: The class reunion is tentatively set for the end of next month.]

[ZZZ: ok.]

[Roommate B: Yay! See you then!]

Oh, so there would be a class reunion next month too.

Xu Zhitong was a little curious about her college life, of which she had absolutely no memory. She was also a little curious about this Zhuang Junqi, though not very much.

She should be able to bring Lin Yang, right? Heh. She’d introduce her as her family member.

Xu Zhitong put down her phone and continued listening to Lin Yang’s conversation.

The meeting lasted more than an hour.

It was almost over when Xu Zhitong yawned and heard them chatting.

Chu Ling’s voice was cool and crisp, but she didn’t say anything pleasant. “Ah Ci, since Lya is here, tell her about your breakup.”

Yan Ci was quiet for a moment, then said, “Nothing to say. It’s just like that.”

Chu Ling laughed.

Lin Yang sighed helplessly. “It’s fine, Ah Ci. Tell us when you want to. Don’t mind the senior.”

Chu Ling said indifferently, “I told you long ago that dating only affects how fast you make money.”

Yan Ci seemed to think for a while about how to retaliate before saying to Chu Ling, “Shameless capitalist.”

Then she said to Lin Yang, “Xiao Yang, I’ve got a recording. When she falls in love someday, we’re going to say the same thing about her.”

Chu Ling gave a light laugh. “Student Yan Ci, my legal team is looking forward to it.”

She sounded like a very bad person.

As Lin Yang listened to them talk, her gaze shifted. Xu Zhitong had somehow stood up and slipped behind the computer.

From behind the monitor, she quietly held up the memo app on her phone.

[Is it over——]

Half her head then peeked out from behind the phone as she blinked at Lin Yang with eager eyes.

Author’s Note:

Did yesterday’s red envelopes already go out? I didn’t see my own red-envelope comments. So weird, maybe it’s a Jinjiang bug [melted]