The Dog Couple

At the first light of dawn, Liu Chang'an woke up on time. He turned on the bedside lamp, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and then put on shorts and a light shirt to go for a run.

As usual, he bypassed the Baolong Center. Given Zhu Juntang's temperament, she would never give up easily. Throughout history, there have been many women with ambitions like hers, and most of them were foolish, keen on controlling powerful men to serve as their own foundation.

Relatively speaking, Zhu Juntang was exceptionally beautiful. Liu Chang'an had seen many legendary beauties throughout history, but in truth, most of them were far inferior to Zhu Juntang.

Due to nutrition, skincare, cosmetics, and natural evolution, most modern women surpassed those of ancient times in terms of skin texture, height, and physical fullness.

If a girl like Qin Yanan had been placed in the past, she would have been a once-in-a-millennium beauty. It was just that, with the exception of a few dynasties, the scholars and poets who dictated the standards of beauty probably wouldn't have appreciated her heavy bosom, and her height would have far exceeded that of those frail, scholarly men.

For the elite figures in a patriarchal society, if one were to view women as playthings, this was probably the best era. All kinds of stunning, enchanting women were in full bloom.

Liu Chang'an did not harbor strong chauvinism that would lead him to reject Zhu Juntang's recruitment. He didn't care whether he worked for a man or a woman, but Zhu Juntang's character was undoubtedly insufficient to support her ambitions... The very act of trying to recruit Liu Chang'an would cause the deep-buried skeletons of many deceased figures who left behind illustrious names to crack into cold sneers.

Maintaining a high speed, he finished his planned route and bought noodles at the wet market. Today, he was still having scallion oil noodles. Liu Chang'an used pork fatback, fried with ginger and garlic, and sprinkled with chopped green onions; the aroma was mouth-watering.

The refrigerator was truly a great invention. The kind of lard sauce Liu Chang'an made used to spoil in less than twenty days during the summer, losing its flavor and aroma, but now it generally stayed fragrant for ninety days.

As for the dog meat and sauce left over from yesterday, he packed them into a food container to take to school today.

Zhou Dongdong came to deliver soy milk. She placed the sealed bag of soy milk by the door.

"Brother Chang'an, didn't you kill any doggies today?" Zhou Dongdong asked, biting her soy milk bag as she watched Liu Chang'an walk out the door.

"I'm killing a chicken today."

As he spoke, Liu Chang'an walked to the front of the carriage, opened the door, and took a look inside. He casually plucked Zhou Dongdong off the ladder as she tried to scramble into the carriage.

The carriage was silent. As a child, her keen sixth sense inherited from the womb had not yet fully faded. Once she was set down, Zhou Dongdong didn't insist on climbing back up; she ran far away, stood on a brick, and watched on tiptoe.

Liu Chang'an found the little hen in the corner of the carriage. It was already stiff, holding no trace of life in his hand—not even as much as yesterday's dog head, which at least let one know it had once been part of a living creature. This little hen made one feel as if it had never been alive at all, devoid of any lingering vitality or blood essence.

Liu Chang'an carried the little hen out of the carriage and looked up at the parasol tree. The remaining leaves on the branches were indeed no longer falling.

Its appetite wasn't large; he should be able to afford to keep it... Liu Chang'an took a shovel, went to a distant corner, dug a hole, and buried the little hen. He covered it loosely with a layer of soil. The little hen was certainly no longer edible; a thing devoid of vitality and blood essence would have neither nutrition nor flavor no matter how it was stewed.

Zhou Dongdong watched Liu Chang'an's actions with wide eyes. Once he was almost finished burying it, she went to hide under the stairs nearby to peek.

"Once the little hen is buried in the ground, centipedes will crawl into its body. Are you scared?" Liu Chang'an teased her.

Zhou Dongdong had originally intended to wait for Liu Chang'an to leave so she could dig the little hen back up, but upon hearing this, she immediately shouted, "I'm not afraid of stinky centipedes!" and hurried home.

Children were the most annoying. Liu Chang'an tidied up the shovel and went to class, riding the bicycle he had brought back the night before.

When Liu Chang'an parked, Zhao Wuqiang also pulled up on his bicycle next to him and smiled at Liu Chang'an.

"Life is full of surprises. Everyone assumed you and Bai Hui had definitely fallen out, but who would have thought that by some twist of fate, you'd end up sitting together," Zhao Wuqiang said with some emotion.

"Yeah, sitting next to Bai Hui, I realized she's truly cute, and her figure is great, just like a 2D anime girl," Liu Chang'an said happily.

Zhao Wuqiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Aren't you into An Nuan?"

Liu Chang'an nodded, patted Zhao Wuqiang on the shoulder, and strolled slowly toward the school.

"Liu Chang'an!"

Liu Chang'an turned his head and saw Bai Hui standing behind him. He and Zhao Wuqiang had been standing behind the bus stop shelter, and Bai Hui had walked over from the other side.

"What a coincidence." Zhao Wuqiang shrugged and walked away as if nothing had happened.

"You heard that?" Liu Chang'an stopped and looked at the slightly blushing Bai Hui.

"You knew I was here and said that on purpose, didn't you?" Bai Hui looked at Liu Chang'an, trying her best to keep her expression neutral.

"Zhao Wuqiang thought the same thing; he probably even called me a schemer or something," Liu Chang'an said regretfully. "It's a real misunderstanding. That was entirely from the heart."

"Who would believe you?" Bai Hui held her head high and brushed past Liu Chang'an. Her hair swept up, carrying the scent of fresh shampoo that grazed the tip of Liu Chang'an's nose.

Peach blossoms and plum blossoms need not boast of their splendor,

They have already lost half to the spring breeze.

Liu Chang'an didn't believe himself either, so he continued to stroll slowly into the school. He didn't go straight to the classroom but sat in the gymnasium instead. No sooner had he sat down than he saw An Nuan and the volleyball team members coming out of the locker room after changing. The entire team seemed to have gathered the most slender and toned legs in the entire Affiliated High School.

The first and second-year team members had to practice during morning study and after school, but An Nuan's schedule was flexible. Aside from the Junsha City High School Volleyball League in June, An Nuan didn't participate in other minor competitions.

"Nuan Nuan, Liu Chang'an is getting bolder. He's not even attending morning study anymore."

"He's here to see you guys. He's a big pervert; he loves watching you little girls the most."

"Pfft, if he were a big pervert, you would have been defiled long ago!"

"Hee hee, do you guys think An Nuan is still a little girl like you?"

"Ah! Ah! I'm going to... ask for a beating!"

The girls frolicked for a while before starting their warm-up exercises. Just then, the side door of the gymnasium was pushed open. A tall figure cast an immense shadow across the floor against the sunlight. He extended a finger and beckoned to Liu Chang'an.

Liu Chang'an followed him out. An Nuan saw this and ran over immediately. The only person in school that tall and sturdy was Chen Changxiu!

When An Nuan ran over, she was stunned to find Liu Chang'an sitting calmly on the steps behind the gymnasium, while Chen Changxiu was rolling on the ground, bruised and swollen.

"Ah... are you okay?" An Nuan looked Liu Chang'an over; fortunately, he didn't look like he was hurt at all.

Hearing An Nuan's voice, Chen Changxiu stopped rolling—it was embarrassing, after all. He gritted his teeth and stood up, his eyes showing a hint of lingering fear as he looked at Liu Chang'an.

"I'm fine. Student Chen accidentally took a tumble."

"You..." Chen Changxiu wanted to argue, but if word got out that he had been beaten up by Liu Chang'an, that wouldn't be very honorable either.

"They were just saying your courage is growing, so you should be careful and avoid any trouble before the college entrance exam," An Nuan said worriedly. It was fortunate that it was Chen Changxiu who got beaten; if Liu Chang'an were to get beaten before the exam, what would happen to his performance?

"There's no helping it; I'm just getting used to it in advance. If the volleyball beauty is already leading the trend in high school, what will it be like in university? You have to realize that university boys have even less to do, and many of them are fixated on the new beauties on campus. I have to deal with them one by one, and Chen Changxiu is just the beginning." Liu Chang'an looked at his fist with great satisfaction. "It's a good thing my fists are hard enough."

"Your fists are hard enough? You're actually proud of fighting, aren't you?" An Nuan's cheeks flushed with anger. There were too many things about Liu Chang'an that made her want to teach him a lesson—like him saying she led the trend, or his plans to keep fighting in university—so she picked a fault to target him first.

An Nuan punched Liu Chang'an's fist, forbidding him from being so smug about fighting.

Liu Chang'an staggered, his expression shifted, and he performed a backflip off the steps, clutching his chest as he said, "The young lady's fists are even harder!"

An Nuan was both amused and annoyed; she ran over and started pummeling his shoulders with her fists, stamping her feet with a coquettish huff.

"Hit here!" Liu Chang'an pointed to his chest and said, "When girls wave their little fists to pummel someone, they always hit them in the chest."

"Disgusting!" An Nuan indulged him and gave his chest a punch.

"You... you shameless pair!" Chen Changxiu shouted in a rage, clutching his head as he ran away. He hadn't expected that not only would he be beaten by Liu Chang'an, but he would also have to witness such a shameless scene. Goosebumps rose all over him; it turned out the rumors about An Nuan liking to get handsy with Liu Chang'an were true after all.

"Did you go easy on him when you beat him just now?" An Nuan snorted forcefully, speaking with a huff.

"No!"

"That's good." An Nuan's eyes darted around, and she looked down at her own slender legs. It was a pity that Liu Chang'an still preferred Bai Hui's large breasts; after all, long legs were not as important as a large chest. Her thoughts quickly shifted back. "You... did you mean just now that we will be the same in university as we are now?"

"Of course."

The sunlight fell from the side of his face, his gaze warm, and his whole being still radiated the feeling An Nuan was familiar with. That scent, like a forest, seemed to envelop her. An Nuan stood on her tiptoes, and suddenly her heart felt like a galloping fawn that had been struck by a hunter's bullet, coming to a sudden standstill. Almost... almost, she really was going crazy. How could a girl have such a strong impulse to do something like that in an instant?

"Were you thinking of kissing me just now?"

"Pah, I was not! You're dreaming!"

"If I were to have such a dream, would you not beat me?"

"If you don't tell me, how would I know to beat you?"

"If I don't tell you, what would be the point? Didn't I say it already? You're cuter when you're angry!"

"I'm cute all the time! You're provoking me again!"

The sunlight was gentle, and the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching.