Fu Yanli had just returned from outside, seemingly still carrying the biting chill with him. The look he cast over made a shiver run down Chu Xingye's spine.
But when he looked more closely, his uncle's gaze was perfectly calm.
Chu Xingye rubbed the back of his neck in confusion. Was I seeing things?
He stood up. "Uncle, were you working overtime again? You're home so late."
Fu Yanli offered no explanation, only a quiet hum of agreement. His gaze swept over Jiang Xun, who was still sitting on the living room carpet, head lowered as he played with the puppy.
He stepped forward and crouched down, casually reaching out to stroke Sangbiao's head. Then he asked, "Has the puppy been good today?"
He was asking about the puppy, but his eyes were on Jiang Xun beside it.
As though he wasn't asking about the puppy at all, but something else.
Jiang Xun forced himself to smile at Fu Yanli and answered perfunctorily, "Yes."
"What do you mean, good? It peed all over the floor the moment I let it out of the crate," Chu Xingye interjected indignantly.
Jiang Xun: "..."
Fine, then.
"Not very good, indeed." Fu Yanli withdrew his hand from Sangbiao's head and stood. "It's late. You two should get some rest."
With that, he turned and headed for the study.
Jiang Xun stared after that tall figure for a while, suspicion flickering in his eyes.
Fu Yanli was wearing a gray shirt today. When he reached out to pet the dog earlier, Jiang Xun had noticed a few inconspicuous dark-red spots on his sleeve that looked like bloodstains.
Where had Fu Yanli gone after taking me back to the apartment? What had he done? It definitely wasn't as simple as working overtime.
Whatever scene Jiang Xun