Paying Fees (1)

How does it feel when the whole world feels like it belongs to you? Zuo Ning, who was currently lying limply on the carpet like mud and had already become one with it, would tell you that it is comfortable. So very comfortable. The feeling was like when the guest had gone and he finally didn't need to keep up his posture. He could return to his original shape. The comfortableness was like he was allowing himself to fly.

When Lu Chenghe passed by the living room, he saw Little Pudding laying on his back on the carpet. One of his short legs was even sticking up on the coffee table. His posture was so twisted that it almost hurt his eyes. The corners of Lu Chenghe's mouth twitched uncontrollably. "Little Pudding."

Zuo Ning twisted his head towards the source of the sound, "Woof?"

"Put your short legs down."

Zuo Ning glanced as his beautiful slender legs then turned his head to continue watching the TV. His legs were so long, so those words just then were definitely not directed at him.

Seeing that he was pretending to be deaf, Lu Chenghe also didn't bother dealing with him. He walked to a side room with a plate and sat down. The sunlight in the room was bright and the deep winter sun matched the warmth of the floor heating. Reading a book whilst lying on the sofa in a thin wool sweater was extremely enjoyable.

He picked up the small knife on the table and cut open the kiwi fruit on the plate. The crisp sound of the blade touching the porcelain plate brought Zuo Ning's spirit back from TV dramaland into his body. He turned his head to see what Lu Chenghe was doing. When he saw that he was eating fruit, he quickly put down his beautiful slender legs, clambered up and ran to Lu Chenghe's side in a few steps. "Woof!" You are eating alone!

Lu Chenghe didn't look at him. He picked up the spoon from the plate, picked up half of the kiwi fruit and scooped some into his mouth. The sweet taste had a slight sourness to it. Mm, pretty good.

Zuo Ning splayed two paws on Lu Chenghe's thighs and lifted his head to look at him. "Woof!" Where's mine?

Lu Chenghe lowered his eyes, "I tried to speak to you but you ignored me. Now you want to eat. It's too late."

Seeing that Lu Chenghe had no intention of feeding him, Zuo Ning jumped onto the sofa. On the sofa, he was about as tall as Lu Chenghe so he planned to throw himself on Lu Chenghe's body and steal it.

Of course, Lu Chenghe would not let him take it. He pressed him onto the sofa with one hand. Zuo Ning was now waving his four claws in the air like a tortoise. Although, if he really resisted he could have easily gotten up. After all, he didn't grow these 25kilos of meat for no reason. But Lu Chenghe was obviously playing around with him, so he simply turned around and hugged Lu Chenghe's hand towards his mouth to nibble at.

Lu Chenghe directly flipped his hand to squeeze Zuo Ning's mouth. "One day I will apply some poison on my hand. So that you will never again randomly open your mouth."

"Awoo!"

"Want to eat?"

Zuo Ning sat up in a split second and obediently waited to be fed.

Lu Chenghe flicked his ears. "Move your ears."

Zuo Ning's obedient ears twitched then one ear went forward and the other went backward. This was his new amazing skill. A video had even been posted two days ago on his Weibo and it had attracted many cute pet bloggers to fall over in their eagerness to imitate it. It had even made it to the top ten searches online. Now the little internet celebrities in the cute pet circle would not be called cute unless they could move their ears.

Lu Chenghe took the spoon and gave him a bite. This kiwi was not the kind that was extremely ripe and sweet. The little sourness gave it a crisp mouthfeel. So when Zuo Ning had a bite, the sourness made him narrow his eyes. Compared to this slightly sour flavour, he preferred the very, very sweet ones.

He shunned the taste after that bite and directly turned his head and left.

Lu Chenghe didn't know about Zuo Ning's preferences. He just wanted to watch his expression when he ate sour food. Now that his sadistic pleasure had been satisfied, he cut the other thoroughly ripe kiwi. "Little Pudding. This one is super sweet. Really."

Zuo Ning looked at Lu Chenghe suspiciously. He saw that the fruit on the spoon that Lu Chenghe was offering looked darker and softer than the previous one so he retracted the few steps away he had taken and ran back.

Lu Chenghe then said, "Give your greetings. I'll see if you've forgotten what I taught you two days ago."

He knew it! He knew that this man would not be so generous to feed him for free! From the moment they began to live together, this scenario had happened countless times. Lu Chenghe seemed to have just discovered the fun of keeping pets, so he always made him perform some 'tricks' to satisfy his desire.

Since there were no outsiders, he would just perform. Zuo Ning had done even more humiliating things. It was better to be embarrassed behind closed doors than being embarrassed outside. So Zuo Ning followed along with Lu Chenghe and stood up, clasping his two front paws together in front of him. "Woof!"

Lu Chenghe picked up Little Pudding with one hand and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Little Pudding is really smart." Then he picked up the spoonful of kiwi and fed it into his mouth.

Zuo Ning finally had his wish fulfilled and ate the sweet kiwi fruit. He continued to intimately lie in Lu Chenghe's arms until he finished the entire fruit. Lu Chenghe picked up the sour one that was cut earlier and asked, "Still eating?"

Zuo Ning immediately got down from his body and ran back to the living room to indulge in TV dramas without looking back.

Lu Chenghe couldn't hold back his laughter as he looked at the little back silhouette. He didn't waste the sour fruit. Instead, he took it to the kitchen and blended it with dog-friendly ingredients to make a milkshake. He then knocked on the doggy bowl containing the milkshake and looked towards Little Pudding, who was once again lying on the carpet. "Want to drink the milkshake?"

The moment the words fell, a small cannonball rushed over. Lu Chenghe smiled and picked up the little marshmallow in a hug. As he watched the little tongue stick out to quickly lick up the milkshake, Lu Chenghe's smiling expression didn't fall.

Although there were a few specially prepared items at home, they had almost finished off the food and the fresh fruits and vegetables were the first to go. Because the snow outside had not melted and the area by the villa was not suitable for their morning runs, Little Pudding had been locked inside for several days. He could only play in the house and Lu Chenghe didn't know whether he was bored or not. So instead of getting people to deliver things to them, he decided to bring Little Pudding out to the supermarket.

Lu Chenghe had lived his whole life with people at this beck and call. He didn't even need to open his mouth before the things he needed were delivered into his hand. However, he could still take care of himself. When he was studying abroad, he also lived alone. Being able to relive his past experiences kept his mood up.

Except for the last time Lu Chenghe took him to buy toys, Zuo Ning had not done this sort of domestic activity with him before. Zuo Ning was excited till the car reached the parking lot. Going to the supermarket was one of the must-dos for cohabiting couples!

Lu Chenghe didn't wait for him to get down from the car, he just picked him up instead. The snow on the ground had melted and even though they were in a parking lot, many cars would bring mud with them on their wheels. If the white fur was dirtied he would need to give him a bath. So he may as well carry him.

Zuo Ning thought that he would be stopped. After all, he had never seen anyone bring a dog into a shopping centre. But no one stopped him, even when Lu Chenghe put him in the shopping cart. Zuo Ning clung onto the cart, his tail wagged in excitement. As he looked upon the dazzling array of goods he wanted to grab them all.

Lu Chenghe pushed him towards the fresh food area. As soon as he got close, Little Pudding stretched his paw out in a direction. Lu Chenghe followed along with him and pushed the cart over. As he did so, he saw a big fish tank filled with lots of fresh shrimp.

"You want to play?"

Zuo Ning looked at Lu Chenghe with contempt. "Woof woof!"

If it's not for playing then it was for eating. Lu Chenghe rubbed his head and pushed the cart away. "I don't know how to cook them. Wait until we're home and let the chef make it for you."

Zuo Ning also didn't fuss further when he heard Lu Chenghe's explanation. Although he really wanted to eat spicy shrimp, even if Lu Chenghe knew how to cook it, he wouldn't make it for him. So he could only sadly grasp the edge of the cart with his claws and lay his head on top of his paws. The gaze that he used to look at the shrimp was just like seeing a girlfriend who was about to leave.

That reluctant expression caused Lu Chenghe to be unable to bear it. For as long as he had raised Little Pudding for, he had only had gastrointestinal problems once when he was very young due to overeating. Normally he was perfectly fine and seemed to be able to eat anything. So Lu Chenghe turned around and went back, almost hitting one of the staff. He really didn't know how to make anything too complicated but he was able to simply steam them with water. It should be fine to give some to Little Pudding to eat.

Zuo Ning saw that Lu Chenghe had changed his mind and would fill him with shrimps. He wanted to happily stand up in the trolley and hug Lu Chenghe but was stopped by one hand. "Don't move. Don't fall."

Zuo Ning wagged his tail and watched the staff pack the shrimp with a smile on his face.

Lu Chenghe shook his head. A fur baby was really just a baby.

After buying the shrimp, they also chose a few more fresh vegetables. But when they passed the snack area, Lu Chenghe could see the disobedient Little Pudding emerge. He grabbed the paw Little Pudding had stretched out and looked at him with a serious expression. "No. You cannot eat these things."

Zuo Ning whined as he looked at Lu Chenghe. Not allowed to have beef jerky. Not allowed to have chicken wings or feet. Why were cream-filled cookies also not allowed?! This was not allowed, that was not allowed, then what was the point of bringing him to the market?!

Lu Chenghe retrieved the box of cookies that Little Pudding had tirelessly fought for and placed it back on the shelf. He then tapped Little Pudding's nose lightly. "If you eat these kinds of things, you will get sick. They aren't healthy."

Zuo Ning huffed and turned his head away from Lu Chenghe. He knew that those things were unhealthy. Why would snacks be healthy? They only needed to taste good.

Lu Chenghe comforted the clearly bad-tempered little rascal with a smile. "When we go home, I will make it for you."

Zuo Ning suddenly looked at him with eyes full of disbelief. Did he know how to make biscuits?

Lu Chenghe flicked Little Pudding's forehead with a finger. "What are you looking at? If I say so, it will be so."

At this moment, a little brat came over whilst pulling on his mother. He went straight to the chocolate cream stuffed biscuits and grabbed several bags with one swipe. That brat's mother saw the dog and hurriedly tried to frighten him. "Do you see the doggy? All these biscuits belong to the dog. If you dare to take it, the dog will bite you!"

That brat hugged the biscuits and looked at the big white dog sitting in the cart and whispered to his mother. "He's inside and can't get out."

Zuo Ning seized the opportunity to bare his teeth at him.