Chapter 19
Xie Shuyun’s hand was only a few centimeters away when the figure in front of her suddenly stepped to the side, avoiding her touch.
Looking at her own raised hand, Xie Shuyun felt a little awkward.
Cheng Lingxue turned her head and glanced at her, then her gaze fell on the hand that was now in the spot where she had just been standing.
“Something wrong?”
“No… nothing… Let’s hurry inside.”
Xie Shuyun quickly withdrew her hand and hid it behind her back. She brushed past Cheng Lingxue and pushed open the door to the pet shop first.
Jingle, jingle.
As Xie Shuyun pushed the door open, the bell hanging above it let out a small chime, announcing that customers had entered.
There was only one female beta in the shop. After finishing with the other customers, she hurriedly walked over.
“Hello. Is there anything you need?”
“We’ll just take a look first.”
Xie Shuyun politely waved her hand at the female beta. The beta was already used to customers like them. After all, many people often came into the pet shop just to look around.
After greeting them a few more times, she left.
Xie Shuyun turned around and saw that Cheng Lingxue had already walked over to the cages by the display window. Her gaze kept sweeping over them, as if she were searching for something.
Xie Shuyun suppressed the curiosity in her heart and followed her step by step.
Finally, Cheng Lingxue stopped.
The girl in front of her crouched down, making it impossible for Xie Shuyun to see exactly what she was doing. She could only carefully shift a little to the side and secretly look at what had moved Cheng Lingxue.
It seemed to be a little golden retriever that had only recently been weaned. Although there were quite a few darker patches of fur on its body, the whole dog was curled into a little ball and still looked very cute.
Perhaps because it had not been long since it left its mother, the little puppy stayed curled up in the corner, not daring to interact much with people or its little companions.
But Cheng Lingxue’s presence attracted its attention. Its black-bean-like eyes looked over, and it stuck out its pink little tongue at Cheng Lingxue. It was not afraid at all, and even gave Cheng Lingxue’s tentative finger a lick.
Cheng Lingxue’s pupils moved slightly.
Her fingertip lightly stroked it, gently avoiding the little puppy’s attempt to nibble at her with its not-yet-grown teeth. Her fingertip lightly tapped its little head, then gently scratched it.
“Wu… aowu…”
The little puppy comfortably narrowed its eyes and let out a soft, muffled, milky cry.
Because of the puppy’s call, the cold young girl’s lips curved slightly, like a spring breeze.
Perhaps because the cold air around the girl had dispersed, the puppies and kittens that had no one playing with them all began stirring, wanting to get closer.
In an instant, the girl was surrounded by small animals. Those little cats and dogs cried out softly, occasionally rubbing against her with their paws or heads, wanting to obtain even a single glance from the girl.
Unfortunately, the girl seemed particularly fond of the little puppy. Her fingertips kept teasing it, and the smile in her eyes gradually increased, becoming even softer and brighter.
At this moment, Cheng Lingxue’s affinity could be said to have multiplied. She was extremely eye-catching. Even children wanted to come over and join in, and quite a few people wanted to take out their phones to take pictures.
Xie Shuyun had already lost count of how many times she had stared blankly. She blinked, feeling that Cheng Lingxue seemed to have smiled many times today.
But she quickly came back to herself. Noticing the situation around them, she hurriedly blocked the other people’s attempts to take photos.
Ignoring those resentful gazes, something seemed to flash through Xie Shuyun’s mind, making her furrow her brows slightly.
She remembered that in the book, before Cheng Lingxue’s family went bankrupt, she had a purebred golden retriever that had grown up with her.
Unfortunately, when she was driven out by her family’s heartless relatives, the golden retriever had been taken away. As for where it had been taken, no one knew. If things had gone well, someone might have bought it and raised it. If things had gone badly, its ending probably had not been good…
Her gaze unconsciously searched through the shop for a moment.
In a small shop like this, naturally, there could not be too many purebred dogs. The little puppy Cheng Lingxue was teasing could only be considered the one that resembled a golden retriever the most. No wonder it had won Cheng Lingxue’s favor.
Thinking this, Xie Shuyun felt a little uncomfortable. Looking at Cheng Lingxue’s back, her heart ached slightly for her.
Although she was one of the female leads, right now, she was still only a child.
She had faced the plight of losing her family and home at such a young age.
Her gaze fell on the little puppy again, and a light flashed through Xie Shuyun’s eyes.
Right…
Maybe she could…
Cheng Lingxue gently scooped up the little puppy with both hands and slowly lifted it high.
Seeing the little puppy stand trembling, then look down from the edge of her palm, it immediately shrank its little head back. It even used its tiny paws to cover its head and eyes, curling up completely in Cheng Lingxue’s hands and not daring to act recklessly.
Cheng Lingxue could not help letting out a soft laugh.
She felt that this little puppy really resembled someone.
“You seem to really like it.”
Xie Shuyun’s voice came beside her ear, making Cheng Lingxue’s movements pause. Her hand also swayed lightly, and the little puppy in her palm let out a whimper. Its tiny paws hooked around Cheng Lingxue’s thumb, looking even more cowardly.
“No.”
Although these two words came from Cheng Lingxue’s mouth, her movements were still very gentle as she carefully placed the little puppy back on the ground.
Her answer immediately choked back what Xie Shuyun had wanted to say.
But she could not mention Cheng Lingxue’s past either, afraid it would make her sad. She could only touch her nose and stretch out her other hand, wanting to pet the little puppy.
Unexpectedly, the puppy, which had just been trying to escape danger by kicking its limbs against the ground, spun around in place. When it saw Xie Shuyun’s hand, its eyes widened. It barked in a fierce yet milky manner and raised a paw to push Xie Shuyun’s finger away.
In its black-bean eyes, there even seemed to be disdain!
Immediately after, as if it had forgotten what had happened just now, it arched its little nose and rubbed toward Cheng Lingxue.
Xie Shuyun seemed to see flattery in its actions.
She was shocked.
Fine, being disliked by Cheng Lingxue was one thing. But now even a little puppy disliked her?
What grudge, what resentment?
Was she really that unwelcome?
Cheng Lingxue beside her only added fuel to the fire. She pursed her lips, suppressing the laugh that almost spilled out, then gave a dry cough and said,
“Don’t argue with a dog.”
In an instant, Xie Shuyun felt extremely wronged.
She was actually inferior to a dog she had known for less than ten minutes.
It felt like the whole world was against her!
“Ahem… We should go.”
Cheng Lingxue gently pushed aside the little puppy by her feet and stood up as she spoke.
But the moment she had just stood firmly and her words had fallen, a rumbling thunder suddenly sounded outside.
The two of them immediately looked at each other.
Right after that, raindrops as large as beans struck the display window, growing more and more numerous and more urgent. In the blink of an eye, the rain had become quite heavy.
“Ah, it’s fine. I brought an umbrella.”
Xie Shuyun rummaged through her schoolbag and took out a folding umbrella. But she immediately became a little troubled.
A folding umbrella was convenient to carry, but it was very clearly not big enough. If two people shared it, with rain like this, there probably would not be much difference between having an umbrella and not having one.
“Why don’t we ask Qin Yu to drive over and pick us up?”
Xie Shuyun scratched her head and asked.
“It isn’t that far. There’s no need to trouble Housekeeper Qin.”
Cheng Lingxue shook her head, rejecting Xie Shuyun’s idea, and gently pulled open the shop door.
Unexpectedly, the rain outside was much heavier than it had looked from inside. If Xie Shuyun had not reacted quickly and pulled Cheng Lingxue back half a step, her shoes would have been soaked by the splashing rainwater.
Cheng Lingxue lowered her head.
By her feet was a flyer advertising a house for sale. Many parts of it had been soaked and blurred by the rain, but even so, Cheng Lingxue still felt that the house printed on it looked somewhat familiar.
Not noticing the gaze of the person beside her, Xie Shuyun quickly calculated.
From this shop to their home, if it were not raining, they should be able to arrive in fifteen minutes. Now, it would probably take nearly half an hour. And that was under the premise that they would both be drenched like drowned chickens.
She glanced at Cheng Lingxue.
Xie Shuyun felt that as an alpha, it did not matter if she got a little wet. But Cheng Lingxue was an omega. She would probably get sick.
An idea instantly appeared in her mind, but Xie Shuyun hesitated a little. She dragged her feet slightly as she said to Cheng Lingxue,
“I have a method that can get us home the fastest, but it might offend you a little.”
Hearing Xie Shuyun’s words, Cheng Lingxue’s gaze immediately swept over.
She watched as Xie Shuyun pursed her lips, gestured around herself, then stretched out ten fingers.
“Ten minutes. No… We won’t even need ten minutes. We’ll definitely arrive.”
On the road, where everyone was either holding bags over their heads and running through the rain or struggling forward with umbrellas, beneath the corner of an eave, an heroic-looking girl bent down slightly and wrapped her own jacket around another cold young girl’s legs.
“Sorry. Your shoes or feet might still get wet, but it’ll be okay.”
Looking at Xie Shuyun as she turned around and leaned her back forward, Cheng Lingxue wondered why she had agreed to this person’s crazy idea.
“Hurry and get on. We should go.”
Because the rain was loud and noisy, Xie Shuyun could only speak by shouting. She stood on the outer side of Cheng Lingxue, feeling that she was already slightly wet, while her shoes were completely soaked.
Having already experienced being carried on the other girl’s back before, Cheng Lingxue did not want to act too delicate either. She gritted her teeth and leaned forward, lying against Xie Shuyun’s back.
Feeling the weight on her back, Xie Shuyun could not help sighing.
She had already given Cheng Lingxue so many nourishing soups, so why was she still so light…?
Of course, she only thought this. It was not appropriate to say such things right now.
Xie Shuyun adjusted her posture slightly and hooked both hands under Cheng Lingxue’s knees. After confirming that the other girl absolutely would not fall, she picked up the umbrella. Without caring whether she herself could be covered, she held the umbrella over Cheng Lingxue.
“You just need to clutch the clothes on my back. If you wrap your arms around my neck, you’ll probably get wet. Hold on properly, okay? If there’s any problem, you have to tell me.”
She gave instruction after instruction.
Although Cheng Lingxue did not reply, Xie Shuyun could feel the hands clutching her clothes tighten slightly. A smile immediately flashed through her eyes.
She raised her head and narrowed her eyes, looking at the gloomy sky.
“We’re going!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl stepped forward with her long legs and rushed out.
Her shoes slapped against the water-covered road. The girl agilely dodged pedestrians who were also rushing through the rain and leapt over puddles of water.
Rain kept falling on her head and face, streaming down. Although she looked rather bedraggled, there was inexplicably a sense of speed.
As Xie Shuyun ran, bright laughter spilled from her mouth.
If not for the fact that everyone else was hurrying to avoid the rain, this scene would probably have made many people stop and watch.
As for Cheng Lingxue on Xie Shuyun’s back, she naturally felt it the clearest.
Although the movements of running and dodging were intense, Cheng Lingxue basically did not feel too much impact. Instead, Xie Shuyun protected her very well.
Perhaps because Xie Shuyun’s emotions were running high, a faint scent of lime wine seeped from her rain-covered neck.
Complicated emotions surfaced in Cheng Lingxue’s eyes.
But she had to admit…
The feeling of being protected was truly good.
It was something she had always hoped to possess, yet had always been taken away from her…
Thinking this, the hand gripping Xie Shuyun’s collar tightened even more.
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