That Won’t Do, I’ve Got a Dog

After an hour of streaming, the room had nearly three million viewers.

The SleepyBlueZZZ account had also picked up countless new followers.

Xu Zhitong stared at the dark screen, her mind inexplicably blank. She zoned out for a while.

Then a message from Yu Dudu popped up in WeChat.

【Dudu the Great: Congratulations!!!!】

【Dudu the Great: We’re an over-100k-viewer streamer too now [sunglasses]】

【Dudu the Great: About that Egg Roll, don’t take it to heart. When I chatted with her privately, I felt like she wasn’t very old and didn’t seem all that mature mentally】

【Dudu the Great: Damn it, I even thought I’d talked her down, and then she still ran over to you…】

【ZZZ: It’s fine. I probably know who it is】

【Dudu the Great: Got gossip?】

【Dudu the Great: Forget it, with your typing speed, we’ll talk when we meet】

【Dudu the Great: How long have you ignored your operator? They came asking me how to get you to reply.】

【ZZZ: I’ll go take a look..】

Xu Zhitong poked at the screen. Was her typing really that slow?

Besides, she wasn’t planning to tell Yu Dudu anything anyway. This was Lin Yang’s family matter.

She searched WeChat for the operator and found it.

It had been sent halfway through the stream; they were inviting her to a Mid-Autumn Festival gala in a few days.

But the timing was a little tight. It seemed to be next week.

Xu Zhitong forwarded the message to Yu Dudu.

【ZZZ: This is?】

【Dudu the Great: LMAO, I’m dying.】

【Dudu the Great: The official side smelled the heat and came over to ride your wave hahaha】

【Dudu the Great: They probably saw your traffic lately, and with Cotton Empress backing you, too.】

【Dudu the Great: There’ll be celebrities there. I heard there are only two or three internet personalities invited. I’ll go to the garden fair after the gala; you can run over to play after your performance too.】

【Dudu the Great: It should be pretty fun, come on. It’s in Hai City, too; I’ll treat you to a meal.】

【Dudu the Great: Hehe, will you bring Cotton Empress? I’ll treat Cotton Empress to a meal too】

【Dudu the Great: Your typing is so slow, are you an AI deep in thought?】

【ZZZ: Why do you want to eat with her】

【Dudu the Great: Are you crazy】

【Dudu the Great: Is she RMB? Does everyone like her when they see her】

【Dudu the Great: Hey, actually, she kind of is】

【Dudu the Great: If you bring Cotton Empress, the one you need to watch out for isn’t me; there’ll definitely be a sea of people trying to cling to her [eye roll]】

【ZZZ: Okay, I’ll remember that】

【Dudu the Great: ARE YOU INSANE!!!!】

【ZZZ: I need to ask Cotton Cotton】

【Dudu the Great: Go on then, kiss-kiss-kiss】

Xu Zhitong resisted the urge to slowly type back and roast her.

She patted her face and felt her mood settle a little before walking out of the study.

Only one floor lamp was on in the living room. Under the warm light, Lin Yang sat on the sofa looking at her phone, her legs folded beside her, covered by a thin blanket.

Cozy and quiet.

Nothing like Cotton Empress from the livestream, who had been showering the room with special effects like they were real.

Xu Zhitong shuffled over timidly.

“Cough, cough.”

She glanced around the sofa.

In the end, she chose to sit on the side closer to Lin Yang, tucking herself beside the leg Lin Yang had drawn up, trapping it between herself and the sofa.

Lin Yang’s foot shifted slightly toward the sofa.

Even the movement under the thin blanket made Xu Zhitong look twice.

She coughed again, putting on a show. “Good evening.”

Xu Zhitong tried to hold down the happiness bubbling in her chest, but she just felt incredibly sweet and soft inside. She said, “It was gorgeous, your gift special effects. They said you had them custom-made a long time ago.”

Lin Yang put down her phone. There was a smile in her eyes that made Xu Zhitong feel like she was dreaming.

“Do you like it?” she asked softly.

Mm.

Xu Zhitong looked at her and said, “I like it…”

Their eyes met; no one knew exactly what she meant by like.

Lin Yang brushed the hair by her ear aside and said, “Mm. It’s only for you.”

Ah…

Xu Zhitong drew in a small breath.

Lin Yang was right in front of her, less than an arm’s length away, breathing quietly; her soft body rose and fell slowly in the silent night.

Her long lashes trembled slightly as she lifted her gaze to look at Xu Zhitong. Her black-and-white eyes reflected only Xu Zhitong, clear and bright.

Warm light brushed her profile, making the curve of her cheek look a little enticing.

Without meaning to, Xu Zhitong’s breathing slowed too. Carefully, she braced one hand on the edge of the sofa and leaned sideways toward Lin Yang.

Just as she was about to get very close, a jade-like finger lightly pinched her left cheek.

“What are you trying to do, Xiaotong?” Lin Yang asked softly.

“……”

Xu Zhitong swallowed lightly.

She lowered her voice too. “Nothing.”

Lin Yang smiled, but not quite. “Is that so?”

That meant no.

Xu Zhitong let out a muffled oh and glanced at Lin Yang a little hungrily. Remembering Lin Yang’s tears that day, she ultimately didn’t dare act rashly and tried to pull back a little.

Then her cheek was gently pinched again.

That meant she wasn’t allowed to move.

Xu Zhitong stiffened and obediently kept her hand on the sofa, drew her legs up onto it as well, and sat half-turned in front of Lin Yang, letting Lin Yang touch her face.

“What were you looking at for so long in there just now?” Lin Yang asked at an even pace.

Xu Zhitong said, “Yu Dudu found me to explain the Egg Roll thing, and the operator invited me to a Mid-Autumn gala in a few days. It seems like there’ll also be some kind of garden fair afterward.”

Lin Yang wasn’t surprised. “Do you want to go?”

Xu Zhitong said, “A little bit.”

That meant she wanted to go quite a lot.

Her livestreaming these past few days had felt pretty good. Even though she was separated from the audience by a screen, the feeling of singing for so many people, of having them like her singing, was genuinely nice.

And she wanted to go out and have fun with Lin Yang too.

Back when they were in school, they’d never had the chance. The farthest place she had ever gone with Lin Yang was the Jiangshi amusement park, and that had been only on a class spring outing.

On ordinary weekends, it was hard to get Lin Yang to go out.

Although Hai City and Jiangshi weren’t far apart, Xu Zhitong had never been there. She’d heard the amusement park there was bigger, with more food, more things to do, and even a famous hot spring.

Xu Zhitong looked at Lin Yang with hope in her eyes. She didn’t know if, in her current amnesiac state, she could go somewhere that far.

Lin Yang said nothing.

So Xu Zhitong muttered to herself, “But I’d only go if you went with me. If you’re going too…”

As she spoke, she grew anxious instead. “Yu Dudu said there’ll be other internet personalities invited to the gala. What if they recognize you as Cotton Empress? The ones I’ve seen all look really pretty, they’re more talented than me, and more mature than me, too. What if they try to seduce you…”

“That won’t do,” Lin Yang said unhurriedly. “I’ve got a dog.”

…!

Xu Zhitong froze and abruptly stopped her rambling.

Her lashes blinked sluggishly.

Ah.

Her ears suddenly started burning.

She avoided Lin Yang’s gaze and coughed lightly. “Fine. But then I start worrying again. What if they find out about our relationship? Would they say weird things, like meeting privately offline, or being kept, and also…”

Lin Yang tilted her head, curious. “And also what?”

Xu Zhitong’s eyes drifted away. “Sleeping with fans…”

“……” Lin Yang wanted to ask: Have you? These past few days she’d made Xu Zhitong cram internet knowledge. What sort of nonsense had she been reading?

Just what kind of things was this little dog’s head thinking about all day?

Lin Yang paused, sighed, and looked at Xu Zhitong in front of her before reaching out to rub the top of her head.

Then she smoothed Xu Zhitong’s bangs back.

A very delicate, not-quite-obedient face was revealed.

Lin Yang slowly combed her fingers through Xu Zhitong’s hair. The hairspray in it made it a little stiff, but the roots were still soft.

Just like Xu Zhitong: hard on the outside, looking rebellious and unmanageable, but actually good-tempered and fond of acting spoiled; everyone who saw her ended up liking her.

Back in high school, she’d been the class troublemaker, but the homeroom teacher and the subject teachers only got a headache looking at her and occasionally grumbled at her; in truth, they all quite liked her.

These past few days, Lin Yang had kept thinking about this. She wasn’t sure whether, before losing her memory, if Xu Zhitong had ninety-nine parts hatred for her, there was still one part of liking left.

If there really was still one part of liking left, then by that one part alone, even if the Xu Zhitong before the memory loss truly regretted ever meeting her… it would still be better to keep going wrong with the wrong person.

She could no longer refuse Xu Zhitong a second time.

Much less now that Xu Zhitong had lost her memory; she couldn’t just stand by and let Xu Zhitong, alone with no memory, suffer and be sad—or hate her.

That familiar ache rose again in Lin Yang’s chest. She savored it, then tucked away the bitterness inside her.

She thought, at least the Xu Zhitong in front of her now believed she liked her.

And she, coincidentally, wanted to be good to Xu Zhitong; any kind of good would do.

So maybe she should give Xu Zhitong everything good she could, and not care about what happened in the future.

Just like the custom special effect she had hidden for more than two years; the image she’d drawn herself, the details she’d kept adjusting over and over with the platform’s special-effects artist, the scene she had wanted most.

Yet she’d still hidden it for two years before taking it out.

As expected, she really liked it.

Lin Yang thought of Xu Zhitong’s expression when she first saw the gift, and how it overlapped with the very obedient, expectant, even slightly eager expression in front of her now.

Her fingers found Xu Zhitong’s ear, then the little studs and hoops one by one.

Lin Yang’s fingertips were smooth and warm, carrying a familiar scent.

Xu Zhitong’s ears turned red from being touched; her cheeks slowly flushed pink too, a little dizzy.

She almost wanted to rub against that hand, or turn her head and lightly bite it; the tip of her tooth felt strangely itchy.

But then Lin Yang said, “Actually, your ears are pretty hard.”

Xu Zhitong widened her eyes. “Huh?”

The flustered, racing feeling from moments ago was tugged loose again. Xu Zhitong stammered, “Maybe they’re hard on the outside and soft on the inside.”

Lin Yang smiled. “Maybe. Probably.”

Hardness made people suffer; saying so many harsh things, not seeing each other or even greeting each other for years, wiping away every trace cleanly.

But when she softened, Lin Yang still couldn’t refuse her, even though it hurt.

Lin Yang said, “Go on then; I’ll go with you. I’ll call the doctor tomorrow to confirm, and that’ll be that.”

Xu Zhitong’s eyes lit up.

“Then should I tell the operator? Or you should, and say you’re going too?”

She straightened a little. “I don’t know what kind of gala it’ll be. I heard it’s livestreamed, so you should have a VIP audience section, right? Will it be like a concert, with them filming the audience’s faces? Then a lot of people will fall for you again and want your contact info.”

“But you’ll definitely have to dress really beautifully, so those people with no eyes can take a look and see that Cotton Empress is the prettiest.”

Xu Zhitong still remembered the bullet comments insulting Cotton during the stream. She’d been so annoyed she wanted to clap back, but Lin Yang had reminded her not to reply to black comments.

Listening to her, Lin Yang wanted to laugh. She lightly pinched both of Xu Zhitong’s cheeks with her thumb and forefinger. “Be quiet. I won’t show my face.”

“Oh.” Xu Zhitong blinked, her face still pinched.

Lin Yang let go and said, “I can go on my own. You don’t need to mention it.”

Xu Zhitong thought of how Lin Yang could even customize special-effect gifts on Yinfu and said, “Okay. Right, I forgot. You’re Cotton Empress.”

Mentioning the livestream reminded her of Lin Zhao’s earlier behavior. After a pause, she asked, “Lin Zhao… is she okay? Does she not really like me? She doesn’t seem as cute as she was when she was little.”

Lin Yang said, “She wasn’t cute when she was little either… She’s not targeting you. Her personality in private has always been pretty bad; she attacks everyone around me indiscriminately.”

“...That bad?” Xu Zhitong’s eyes widened slightly. Worried, she asked, “Then if she finds out you’ve spent so much money online, will she go tattling to your mother and have her meddling with you?”

Xu Zhitong had always felt that Lin Yang’s mother was both strict and indifferent toward Lin Yang, as if Lin Yang weren’t even her biological child.

Her own mothers were busy with work. Xu Zhitong had a little resentment about that, but she was used to it and knew that work simply came first for them; in truth, they loved her very much.

Lin Yang didn’t mention Madam Lin. She only said, “It’s fine. What I spend is money I earned myself.”

“Hm?!”

Xu Zhitong was shocked.

Weren’t they the same age? Why could Lin Yang make so much money?

Lin Yang looked at her stunned expression and smiled. “What, you don’t believe me?”

Xu Zhitong shook her head. “I believe you. I’m just a little amazed.”

Lin Yang smiled. “Don’t tell anyone. I earned it behind her back.”

Xu Zhitong nodded furiously.

Lin Yang explained to her that it had probably started with stocks when she was studying abroad, then after meeting a senior, getting her investment, and working on other financial projects together, or something like that…

Xu Zhitong nodded, nodded, nodded.

Her expression was serious; the rate at which she nodded got faster and faster.

Lin Yang stopped and lifted a brow. “Little illiterate, did you not understand again?”

Xu Zhitong looked up at the ceiling. “I understood.”

Lin Yang grabbed her face and turned it back. “If you didn’t understand, why were you nodding? Who are you trying to fool?”

Xu Zhitong blinked innocently. “I wanted to listen to you talk.”

Fine.

Lin Yang said, “Anyway, I can afford to secretly keep you fed.”

She thought maybe the conversation was over and asked, “Alright, this streamer; after the stream is over, why aren’t you doing something proper and still lingering here?”

Xu Zhitong didn’t want to leave. She leaned in again.

Slowly, she said, “Oh, right. Then I need to thank my top donor.”

Lin Yang glanced at how Xu Zhitong was practically about to crawl into her arms and asked, “Then go do it.”

Xu Zhitong blinked and pretended innocence. “So now, do I start thanking my number one donor? Okay, should I lift the hem of my shirt first or bare my shoulder? Let me think…”

Before she could finish, Lin Yang hurled a throw pillow straight into her face.

Author’s note:

I really love this motion where Lin Yang smooths the little dog’s fur…