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Gu Bai was caught off guard to hear that he had acquired a new name: Gu Xiaobai.

Elder Chu sighed. "Now that you're married, you've settled down. That lifeless home of yours ought to have some life in it, too. Treat Xiao Bai well, and don't bully him, or you'll find out who my cane has its eye on. I'll come visit you two in a few days. You turned down the marital home I prepared for you, but luckily, your place is still practically new. You've lived there for years, yet it looks as if no one's ever lived in it. It'll just about do as a marital home."

Chu Zeshen agreed. "All right. I'll send someone to pick you up then."

Gu Bai had thought the other party was about to hang up, only for him to unexpectedly change tack and turn the conversation toward him.

"Is Xiao Bai there? Give him the phone. You focus on driving, and I'll talk to him."

Gu Bai froze for a moment and turned to look at Chu Zeshen. He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but he seemed to see the corners of the other man's mouth curve upward.

Elder Chu called again, "Xiao Bai? You brat, did you not give him the phone..."

Gu Bai spoke up. "I'm here, Elder Chu."

Hearing Gu Bai's voice, Elder Chu's tone softened. "Hahaha, why are you still calling me Elder Chu? It's time to change what you call me."

Gu Bai was just about to speak when Elder Chu interrupted him again. "Wait, I haven't given you your gift for calling me Grandpa yet. I'll send Ze Shen a red envelope now. Leave the call screen and accept it on WeChat before you change what you call me. And keep an eye on his money while you're at it."

Elder Chu moved quickly and handled WeChat with ease. Gu Bai felt the phone vibrate.

Covering the phone, Gu Bai said quietly, "You can accept it for me later."

Chu Zeshen said, "This is from Grandpa for you. It would be better to accept it yourself. The passcode is 991207."

Since Chu Zeshen didn't mind him opening his phone, Gu Bai entered the passcode, opened WeChat, and accepted Elder Chu's generous red envelope, his gift for calling him Grandpa.

"Grandpa."

Hearing Gu Bai call him Grandpa, Elder Chu hung up in satisfaction, giving the impression that he had made the call just to hear that form of address.

Only after the other party hung up did Gu Bai put the phone down.

Gu Bai started thinking about his plans for tonight again, but before he could come up with anything, someone interrupted him once more.

"I'm sorry. That was an oversight on my part. I forgot to add a clause to the contract stating that we need to live together." Chu Zeshen sounded apologetic. "There seems to be a slight change of plans. I hope it hasn't inconvenienced you."

Gu Bai said casually, "That's normal. It's our first time getting married, after all. I forgot we needed to live together, too."

Chu Zeshen asked, "When are you free? I'll come pick you up."

Gu Bai asked in return, "Does your house have a front yard?"

Chu Zeshen glanced sideways at him. "Yes."

Gu Bai asked another question. "Is it big?"

Chu Zeshen thought for a moment before saying, "Bigger than the Gu Family's."

Gu Bai readily agreed. "I'm free tomorrow."

No dog owner would turn down a house with a lawn. Even a second's hesitation would be a sign that they didn't love their dog.

Chu Zeshen chuckled. "All right. I'll pick you up tomorrow."

When they arrived downstairs at Gu Bai's building, Gu Bai got out. "See you tomorrow."

While Gu Bai was in the elevator, he received the gift money for calling Elder Chu Grandpa, transferred to him by Chu Zeshen.

After leaving the elevator, Gu Bai walked to the hallway window and looked down. Chu Zeshen's car was still downstairs.

Not long after he accepted the red envelope, the car downstairs drove away.

Gu Bai didn't think much of it. He only felt that Elder Chu's gift had been surprisingly generous.

When Gu Bai opened his front door, Mocha was already waiting there, wagging his tail. The fellow had started getting excited the moment Gu Bai stepped out of the elevator; he could recognize his footsteps.

After getting home, Gu Bai lay down on the sofa as usual, then opened the marriage certificate he hadn't had time to examine closely earlier.

The first thing that caught his eye was the photo of him and Chu Zeshen against a red background. Other people had their marriage certificate photos taken beforehand and brought them along, whereas theirs had been taken in a hurry at the Civil Affairs Bureau. Fortunately, their looks had carried them through.

When taking the photo, the photographer had told the newlyweds they could stand a little closer together.

The two had temporarily gone from business partners to partners in daily life, and out of habit from posing for business photographs, both wore polite business smiles.

At first glance, they looked happy, but a closer look revealed no trace of a smile in either man's eyes.

Gu Bai set the marriage certificate aside and went on thinking about what to eat tonight. Food was life's first necessity; nothing was more important than eating.

That evening, he called the housekeeper to tell her that, starting tomorrow, she no longer needed to prepare three meals a day and only needed to continue cleaning as usual.

Gu Bai had signed a three-month lease on this apartment in one go. His reason for not giving it up was that these three months would be the most unstable period. If anything happened and he left the Chu Family, at least he would have somewhere to shelter from the wind and rain.

He didn't have much of his own to pack. Most of it was Mocha's stuff.

Gu Bai sat on the floor with an open suitcase in front of him. "We're moving tomorrow. Have a look and see what you want to bring."

Mocha tilted his head as he listened, then picked up a toy from the floor in his mouth and put it in the suitcase.

Gu Bai asked patiently, "All right, we'll bring that. What else do you want to bring?"

Mocha eagerly dragged his snack box over. At the sight, Gu Bai laughed. "One toy, but a whole box of snacks."

The man and dog played as they packed for tomorrow's move.

At ten the next morning, Gu Bai brought two suitcases downstairs. He hadn't asked Chu Zeshen to come up. There were only two suitcases, so there was no need for him to make the extra trip.

Downstairs, when Chu Zeshen saw Gu Bai pulling two suitcases, he hurried forward to help. He opened the trunk and was about to lift the luggage inside when, in the blink of an eye, a black-and-white dog suddenly leaped into it.

Gu Bai looked helplessly at the dog occupying the trunk. "Mocha, get down."

Chu Zeshen took a close look at the pet dog before him and asked, "Mr. Gu, did you go to the Gu Family Hotel last month?"

Gu Bai didn't understand why he was asking, but answered anyway. "Yes. I stayed at the hotel with Mocha for a while."

Chu Zeshen understood. The Border Collie before him was the one he had seen. He had begun thinking about getting a pet that day.