A Tsundere Puppy!

"Qian Renxue, do you know what you look like right now?"

???

Qian Renxue raised her head slightly, blinking her pale purple eyes.

Her little face was full of confusion, as though silently asking, "Like what?"

Watching her, Su Yu could not help curling his lips into a smile.

"Right now, you're like a tsundere puppy. You clearly want something, but you stubbornly insist you don't."

"You're the puppy! I'm not a puppy!"

At his words, Qian Renxue's cheeks instantly flushed red, and she hastily retorted.

She looked as though he had stepped on a sore spot, and Little Gray, nestled in her arms, seemed to understand too.

The puppy raised its furry head and barked twice at Su Yu. The barks were quiet, sounding more like it was backing her up.

Her little expression, coupled with Little Gray's response, really did have something of the endearing foolishness of a "puppy defending its master."

Amused, Su Yu waved a hand. "All right, all right, you're not a puppy. But Little Gray is, at least, right?"

Qian Renxue hugged Little Gray closer and shot him an irritated glare.

"Little Gray isn't a tsundere. It's much more sensible than you!"

As though understanding the praise, Little Gray rubbed its head against her chin and gave a gentle whimper.

The wariness on Qian Renxue's face eased a little. Though she remained stubborn, she no longer tried to chase him away.

She lowered her head to play with Little Gray in her arms, occasionally glancing up at Su Yu.

After about five minutes, Su Yu reached out and gently stroked Little Gray in Qian Renxue's arms.

Little Gray gave two contented little howls, its tail sweeping lightly within her embrace.

But before long, it seemed to realize that this hand did not belong to its familiar owner.

It quickly raised its head and gave Su Yu another two little howls, somewhat wary but hardly aggressive.

Su Yu paid little attention to Little Gray's reaction. He withdrew his hand and looked at Qian Renxue.

"By the way, what you said earlier, about you and Teacher..."

At that, Qian Renxue lowered her head slightly, her long lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyelids.

A few seconds later, she abruptly looked up, a trace of stubbornness in her pale purple eyes, along with a barely perceptible bitterness.

"That's right. She's my mother. So what?"

"Seeing her hit me to defend you two-does that make you happy?"

Her voice had a confrontational edge, as though she were deliberately using sharpness to conceal something.

Little Gray seemed to sense its owner's shifting emotions. It gently rubbed its little head against her wrist, whimpering softly.

Looking at her taut profile, Su Yu shook his head. "There's nothing for me to be happy about."

He paused, softening his tone. "I just think there must be some misunderstanding between you and Teacher!"

"A misunderstanding?" Qian Renxue scoffed, her eyes dimming.

"What misunderstanding could there be? She just doesn't like me. She never has."

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting patches of light and shadow across her face.

The dejection hidden beneath her pride was even more glaring than her earlier anger.

"Qian Renxue, Teacher loves you. I can see how much she cares about you in her eyes."

Su Yu spoke earnestly as he looked at her reddening eyes.

"Loves me?"

Like a firecracker set alight, Qian Renxue suddenly raised her voice, her pent-up grievances surging out at that moment.

"Does loving me mean never once showing me any real concern all my life?"

She clutched Little Gray tightly, her knuckles whitening with the force. Her voice shook with tears, yet she stubbornly kept her head raised.

"Does loving me mean refusing to acknowledge my existence, not even letting me call her 'Mom'?"

"She loves me?" She practically shouted those last words, tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

"Does loving me mean raising her hand and slapping me to defend two outsiders like you? Do you know how much that slap hurt?"

Every question seemed barbed, piercing the air and stabbing into her own heart.

Frightened by her emotions, Little Gray whimpered uneasily in her arms, rubbing its tiny body against her arm.

Su Yu took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to Qian Renxue.

"Qian Renxue, don't get worked up. Hear me out first."

Qian Renxue hesitated, but still reached out to take it, lowering her head and haphazardly wiping the tears from her face.

Her gaze settled on Little Gray's furry back in her arms, her voice muffled and heavily nasal.

"After you ran off that day, Teacher stayed alone in the Pope Hall for a long time."

Su Yu slowed his delivery, trying to make his voice sound calm and credible.

"When I went in to deliver something, I saw her staring blankly into the empty hall."

"Her eyes were full of regret and pain she couldn't hide. She looked nothing like her usual icy self."

He paused, watching Qian Renxue's faintly trembling shoulders, then continued.

"She must love you. It's just... she carries too much of the past in her heart. Those things are like a thorn, piercing her so deeply that even coming close to you hurts."

"Whenever she looks at you, I can sense both her concern for you and her hatred of the past in her eyes."

"Those two feelings keep tearing back and forth inside her heart. That's why she always deliberately distances herself from you, wrapping herself in indifference."

Qian Renxue said nothing, only tightening her arms around Little Gray.

Only after a long while did she mumble, in a voice so quiet it was almost inaudible:

"Is that... really how it is?"

"Yes. Though I don't know exactly what Teacher went through, she's your mother. How could a mother not love her own child?"

Qian Renxue unconsciously stroked Little Gray's soft fur, falling silent for a moment.

"But she's never hugged me, never even said a single gentle word to me..."

Before finishing, she buried her face in Little Gray's fur again, her shoulders trembling faintly.

The wind swept fallen leaves past their feet. Looking at her rigid back, Su Yu said softly:

"Maybe she's just forgotten how to love. Like land parched by a long drought-it isn't that it doesn't want rain, but that it's gone without moisture for so long, it's forgotten how to receive it."

He paused, picked up an intact maple leaf, and offered it to her.

"Look at this leaf. How tender it was when it first grew. Only after enduring wind and sun did it turn this color."

"Feelings are the same. Sometimes you have to warm them slowly before they'll grow warm."

"If you want to untie the knot in Teacher's heart, you can only do it after finding out what that knot is."

Qian Renxue raised her head. The agitation had already left her pale purple eyes, leaving only a hint of thoughtfulness.

She looked down at Little Gray in her arms, then toward the distant Pope Hall and Worship Hall. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded gently.

"Mm! I understand."

Then she looked at Su Yu, her voice much gentler than before.

"Thank you, Su Yu."

Su Yu smiled and said nothing more, merely reaching out to stroke Little Gray's head again.

This time, Little Gray did not resist. Instead, it narrowed its eyes in comfort.