He Was the Heartless Man

They soon found a veterinary clinic. Shen Heng carried the puppy inside for an examination, while Chu Tianqing sat in the car, bored, and started scrolling through her phone.

She came across countless videos of oil being dumped on her, spreading like wildfire through friends' feeds and all kinds of group chats. Plenty of people had tagged her or sent her private messages, making no attempt to hide their malice.

Chu Tianqing scrolled past them expressionlessly. She wasn't Shen Xixi and didn't care about such things. Why should the person who'd been bullied feel ashamed? She deserved sympathy.

Anyone who laughed at her was a colossal fucking idiot.

About half an hour later, Shen Heng came out of the clinic carrying a dog crate in one hand and a huge bag of supplies in the other. The perceptive driver got out and helped him load everything into the front passenger seat.

Shen Heng got in and settled into his seat. The puppy was placed up front, still whimpering.

"Is the puppy all right?" Chu Tianqing asked with concern.

"He's fine. He's about two months old. The vet guessed that his mother wanted to wean him and drove him away. He's too young to find food for himself, so he'll be fine once he's eaten his fill." Shen Heng spoke unhurriedly, then suddenly turned his head and added, "You don't have anything to do anyway, so you can take care of him."

Chu Tianqing was surprised. "Me? No, no, I've never had a dog."

"Then learn. It's not that hard." There was an implied threat in Shen Heng's tone. "What else can we do? Throw him away? You wouldn't be that heartless, would you?"

Chu Tianqing pressed her lips together, wanting to say that she was just that heartless! How could she up and leave whenever she wanted if she had a dog?

Shen Heng glanced at her. Seeing that she wouldn't budge, he said indifferently, "All right, then. When you get out, throw the dog away while you're at it."

Chu Tianqing was at a loss for words. Wait, why did she have to be the villain here?!

If he didn't have time to raise a dog, then he shouldn't have rescued him! What did you call this? Outsourcing your good deeds?

Unwilling to back down, Chu Tianqing said irritably, "Fine, I'll throw him away. Who's afraid of who?"

Ten minutes later, Chu Tianqing stood downstairs with the dog crate and two big bags of supplies at her feet, watching the luxury car vanish in a cloud of dust.

She lowered her head. The puppy let out a pitiful whine.

Chu Tianqing sighed, resigned herself to her fate, and picked up the crate and supplies. "Stop crying," she said weakly. "Come home with me."

What else could she do?

And he had the nerve to call her heartless. He was the heartless man.

Chu Tianqing struggled back to her apartment. As soon as she shut the door, she felt like she was going to faint.

She had no strength to deal with the dirty clothes. She let the puppy out and set out dog food and water for him, then had no strength left for anything else. She managed to change into pajamas and brush her teeth before collapsing onto the bed and falling fast asleep.

She didn't know how long she slept before hunger woke her.

She picked up her phone and saw that she'd slept until past twelve again. She struggled out of bed and went looking for food. When she reached the living room and got a good look, she let out a piercing shriek.

The dog food bowl had been knocked over, the water had spilled, scraps of paper littered the floor, and a piece of dog poop sat right in the middle of it.

Hearing Chu Tianqing scream, the puppy pattered over, touched her foot with his damp little nose, then sat down, looked up, and smiled at her.

Chu Tianqing pointed a finger at him and scolded, "You evil little thing! Heaven sent you to torment me, didn't it?!"

The puppy didn't understand and thought Chu Tianqing was playing with him. He bounced up happily and ran circles around her.

Chu Tianqing puffed out her cheeks. Gradually, the little thing's cuteness melted her heart, and she broke into a happy smile. "All right, all right, I give up. I'll take care of you, okay?"

Ignoring her own needs, she cleaned the apartment and tended to the puppy on an empty stomach.

Only after she'd settled the puppy did she cook herself a bowl of noodles. After a quick meal, she started looking up things she needed to know about raising a dog.

What she found was eye-opening. There was so much to raising a dog.

Chu Tianqing learned that if she didn't want the puppy relieving himself all over the place, she needed to train him to use a designated spot and get him into the habit of doing his business on walks.

She was just about to take him out when she saw another note: he couldn't go outside until he'd had all his vaccinations.

Ahhh, what a hassle.

Chu Tianqing thought for a moment, then sent Shen Heng a WeChat message asking whether the vet had said when the puppy could start getting vaccinated during yesterday's examination.

She put down her phone and looked up. It was already dark outside.

She hadn't done anything all day, yet somehow it had passed in a daze.

Only then did she remember the big bag of dirty clothes by the entrance that she still hadn't dealt with.

She hurried over and opened it. Big Bro's suit jacket wasn't too bad, but her own clothes had all clumped together.

Chu Tianqing sucked in a sharp breath and decided to give up on her clothes. They hadn't cost more than two hundred yuan altogether anyway, so she wouldn't miss them if she threw them out.

As for Big Bro's suit jacket, she'd take it to the dry cleaner tomorrow.

After dealing with the dirty clothes, Chu Tianqing picked up her phone and saw that Shen Heng had already replied.

The vet had said the puppy's immunity was relatively weak, so she should look after him for a while before getting him vaccinated.

Chu Tianqing understood. She'd just take good care of him, then.

For the next few days, Chu Tianqing kept busy learning how to raise a dog, training the puppy to relieve himself in the bathroom, buying all kinds of toys online, playing with him to burn off his energy, and so on.

She was happily occupied and had no energy left to pay attention to the outside world.

She didn't ask about the banquet, either.

Big Bro hadn't brought it up himself, which meant it hadn't worked out.

Whenever Chu Tianqing thought about how Shen Heng had most likely been dealt with by Lin Bufan, she wanted to laugh.

Haha, he only knows how to bully me. Let him see what his own little sister can do.

A week later, Chu Tianqing took the puppy out for his vaccination. On the way back, she passed a small park and saw that there were no other dogs inside, so she took the little fellow out to get some fresh air.

The little fellow was a male, and Chu Tianqing named him Baogang, hoping he would live out his doggy life healthy and strong.

It was evening. Chu Tianqing sat on a bench watching the sunset, holding the leash while Baogang ran around her in circles, frolicking and sniffing everything.

Chu Tianqing was perfectly at ease. She took out her phone to photograph Baogang, then wanted to take a picture of the sunset too.

She had just raised her phone when a familiar figure appeared in the frame. It was Jiang Lean.

She wore loose casual clothes, her long hair hanging loose and her small face deathly pale. There was none of the glow of someone who'd had her revenge; instead, she looked like someone who'd been badly bullied.

That didn't make sense.

Chu Tianqing lowered her phone and stared at her, not knowing what to say.

After their last phone call, she'd assumed things between them were over. She had willingly been deceived and had paid the price. If Jiang Lean still couldn't let it go, there was nothing else she could do.

She couldn't keep atoning forever. She wasn't Shen Xixi; she needed a life of her own.

Jiang Lean walked over silently and stopped two steps away. "Shen Xixi, do you hate me?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

Chu Tianqing shook her head and kindly added, "But no matter what, I have to tell you this: don't get too close to Yan Ruyu. She's no good."

Yan Ruyu was a lot like the old Shen Xixi. They were both proud and arrogant young ladies who looked down on everyone, ran roughshod over others, treated poor people as expendable, and took pleasure in trampling on other people's dignity.

Jiang Lean suddenly gave a sob, and tears seemed to glimmer in her eyes. "Why are you pretending to be a good person now?" she said bitterly. "You should hate me! Shen Xixi, I want you to hate me!"