"Not understanding it doesn't stop me from trading insults with it." Pei Xinglan played the victim first. "Your dog insulted me first. You really need to keep it in line."
Yan Junye: "..." You really are the biggest dog I've ever met, bar none.
He jumped off the couch in anger and went to Chang Yu to plead his case.
"Awoo, awoo, awoo!"
[He asked me whether you were fooling around in bed with a man last night and that's why you got up late today. I said no, and he insulted me!]
Chang Yu could feel Xiaotu's fury. He seemed pretty angry.
He reached out and stroked the dog's head to soothe him. "Why did you come here to bully my dog?"
"I didn't bully your dog." Pei Xinglan clutched his chest, looking grief-stricken as he said,
"But your dog sure changes his affections fast. Last time, he came over to rub against me on his own. This time, he started insulting me the moment he saw me."
"Why don't you reflect on what you did?" Chang Yu retorted without sympathy.
He still remembered that Xiaotu hadn't eaten breakfast. He put the lunch he had ordered on the table. "Come eat."
Pei Xinglan caught the delicious scent of seafood congee and thought Chang Yu was inviting him to eat. He had just leaned toward the food when a paw smacked him on the forehead.
Yan Junye used his other paw to shift the takeout container closer to himself, guarding against theft.
Pei Xinglan angrily fought Xiaotu for the food. "This is human food. A dog like you can't eat it."
"You stole grilled fish last time, and now you dare steal food again. Chang Yu must've gone too easy on you. Time for some family discipline!"
Yan Junye couldn't take it anymore. One paw was no longer enough to vent his anger, so he stomped on Pei Xinglan with all four.
As he stomped, he furiously cursed him in his mind.
-You idiot, this is the lunch Chang Yu got for me, not you. Stop flattering yourself!
-And you want to hit me just for eating something? You're so petty. No wonder your dog doesn't like you!
Chang Yu felt that Pei Xinglan had turned his office into a complete mess. He lifted Xiaotu down and smoothed his fur.
"All right, ignore him. Eat first, before it gets cold."
Xiaotu's stomach needed nursing back to health, so naturally he couldn't eat cold food.
Pei Xinglan sprang up from the couch when he heard that. "Wait, so this seafood congee was for the dog all along?"
He, a human, actually ate worse than a dog.
And how was this dog more delicate than a person? He couldn't even eat cold food.
"Is that even a dog you're raising?"
"No." What Chang Yu was raising wasn't a dog to begin with.
Yan Junye gave a haughty little huff and ignored the worldly Pei Xinglan. He jumped onto the table and lapped at the congee in the bowl.
He wasn't being picky. After having oily, salty hot pot yesterday, something light and warm today was nice too.
Listening to Xiaotu enjoying his food, Pei Xinglan asked, "So you're not treating me to lunch?"
"I didn't get a portion for you," Chang Yu said. "Give me a heads-up before you come next time."
"And if you provoke Xiaotu and end up getting bitten, don't come crying to me."
"You're heartless." Pei Xinglan looked wounded. "All our years of friendship can't even compare to a dog."
Yan Junye's head hurt listening to him. He raised a hind leg and kicked Pei Xinglan, who was behind him, in the mouth.
Pei Xinglan covered his mouth and immediately rushed out to wash it, dry-heaving as he went.
With the eyesore gone, Chang Yu finished the work at hand and sat down to eat as well.
Yan Junye was wolfing down his food when he heard a voice from Chang Yu's phone.
"Want to know whether letting your dog into bed is dirty?"
He was just about to check Chang Yu's expression when the sound disappeared. Chang Yu had swiped past the video.
Chang Yu knew Xiaotu was looking at him without even raising his head. "What does it matter whether it's dirty? You've already been in my bed anyway."
If the person in the video said it was dirty, his germophobia would make him too uncomfortable to sleep well.
He might as well not listen.
"Who have you been in bed with?" Pei Xinglan returned after washing up and caught the most crucial bit of information.
Chang Yu didn't want to deal with him at all. "If you've got something to say, say it, or I'm throwing you out."
Pei Xinglan did indeed have business. "There's a reality show coming up that showcases dogs' abilities. The dogs taking part include search-and-rescue dogs, guide dogs, and police dogs. The production team wants to invite one more type of working dog."
"The public isn't very familiar with therapy dogs yet, and Xiaotu happens to be the best therapy dog the training center has trained, so they want you to bring Xiaotu on the show."
Chang Yu hadn't even known Xiaotu was their best graduate.
But this graduate had already forgotten everything he had learned. Wouldn't going on a show to demonstrate his comforting abilities just make him a laughingstock again?
"We're not taking part. Find someone else."
"I feel like your mood has been much better lately. That shows therapy dogs can help more people suffering from mental illnesses." Pei Xinglan was elevating the significance of making therapy dogs widely known.
"Think about it. Therapy dogs are much cheaper than hefty medical bills. The public needs to know about them."
Chang Yu said, "Then you can get someone else." Xiaotu wasn't the only therapy dog.
Yan Junye nodded in agreement.
-Listen to those names: police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, guide dogs. They sound impressive right off the bat. A little noob like me would just be a joke up there.
Those dogs had real skills. Therapy dogs were a bit too abstract.
The biggest problem was that he didn't know how to comfort anyone either.
Pei Xinglan was getting desperate.
Of course, they were inviting Chang Yu because the show itself needed buzz, and Chang Yu's recent remarks and behavior had generated enough attention to draw in some viewers.
"The show offers plenty of perks-"
Yan Junye didn't want to hear Pei Xinglan keep trying to persuade him. If he actually managed to convince Chang Yu, Yan Junye would be the unlucky one.
He reared up and used his weight to push him out, while Chang Yu obligingly opened the office door.
Pei Xinglan, who had been pushed outside: "..." Birds of a feather really did flock together.
Chang Yu continued working, while Yan Junye lay on the couch sleeping, playing on his phone for a while when he got tired of sleeping.
The office's heating seemed stronger than usual. He rolled over, hot.
Finally, he chose to get down and walk over to the remote beside the desk. He placed a paw on it to indicate what he was about to do.
Before lowering the temperature, he barked a few times.
[Aren't you hot? I want to turn the temperature down a bit.]
"Set it however you like." Chang Yu didn't simply say yes, since that would make it seem like he understood dogs. He could be a pet communicator if that were the case.
Yan Junye raised a paw and lowered it a few degrees, then ran over to Chang Yu's feet and rolled belly-up before reaching for Chang Yu's hand with his paw.
-My mom always rubbed my belly when it felt bad before. I can't reach to rub it myself. Rub it for me.
Inside, Chang Yu thought, Being a mom is exhausting. You could actually think of me as your dad.
But the dog on the floor lay motionless with his belly exposed, as though Xiaotu wouldn't get up unless he got a belly rub today.
Chang Yu had no choice but to crouch down, pick Xiaotu up, and put him on his lap, where it was easier to massage him.
He didn't tease the dog. The pressure of Chang Yu's strokes was just right, with a few rubs now and then, and the dog in his arms narrowed his eyes in comfort.
-Mom's method really does work.
Chang Yu wanted to ask, "Isn't it because I'm good at this?"
"What's this? Why is it hard?"
Chang Yu parted the fur around the spot that felt hard and lowered his head for a closer look. Unable to make anything out, he reached out and pinched it again.
"Has something grown here?"
Yan Junye also half-raised his head to look. His doggy life was at stake, after all.
His body felt a little restless. It took Yan Junye a moment before realization dawned. "Woof, woof, woof!"
[Get your filthy hand off me! That's my fucking nipple! What are you pinching it for?!]
A nipple?
Once Chang Yu realized, he immediately stopped rubbing and let go. "Sorry. This is my first time raising a dog. I didn't know that was there."
Never mind Chang Yu-even Yan Junye hadn't known what spot that was when it was first rubbed and pinched.
-Aaaah! It's over! I'm completely sullied! You've seen and touched places you shouldn't. You have to take responsibility for me!