Chapter 23

Chen Jingshen wore a loose white sweater and paired it with a pair of black pants, looking simple and casual.

It was Yu Fan's first time seeing Chen Jingshen wearing something other than their school uniform.

It was a little more pleasing to the eye than at school.

The dog was still firmly attached to Yu Fan's leg, its tail wagging excitedly.

It looked like it had no intention to run.

So Yu Fan just stood there and asked with the cigarette still in his mouth, "Why are you here?"

"Walking the dog."

Yu Fan glanced at the narrow street and the crowd of people, "Here?"

"We were originally at a nearby park." Chen Jingshen seemed to have thought of something and a troubled look appeared on that usually expressionless face of his, "And I was led here by him."

"...…."

Yu Fan tried to remember where the closest park was.

Heavens. This guy was dragged by a dog for three kilometres?

The doberman looked quite ferocious. Even despite the muzzle and leash, some of the people passing by were still scared by it.

The dog circled around Yu Fan's legs a few times. Restrained by the muzzle, it could only let out small sounds, a little like a warning before it pounced on its prey.

A young boy passing by met the dog's eyes and immediately began to cry.

"Ahhh my baby, don't cry." The mother next to him immediately picked him up and coaxed him. She then glared at Yu Fan and complained in a small voice, "What kind of person would walk their dog here?!"

Yu Fan, "...."

He knitted his brows and placed the unlit cigarette back into his cigarette box.

"Give me the leash."

Chen Jingshen gave it to him. As Yu Fan put his hand through the handle, the backs of their hands touched for a second. Both were cold.

"Why raise such a big dog if you can't handle it?" Yu Fan walked off without looking back, "Follow me."

Chen Jingshen. "Okay."

After taking a few steps, the dog noticed that the person on the other end of the leash had changed. He couldn't help but look back at his owner.

Chen Jingshen lowered his eyes and shook his finger at the dog.

The dog immediately woofed in response and obediently walked on.

There were food stalls all along the street. More people were coming out to get food.

Yu Fan stayed close to the side, avoiding people as much as possible.

Fortunately, the dog didn't get into much mischief and it obediently walked close to the wall.

"Where are we going?" The person behind him asked.

Yu Fan, "Out."

No matter how you looked at it, walking a dog down a street with food stalls didn't seem very appropriate.

A while later, the person behind him asked again, "Have you had dinner?"

Yu Fan ignored him.

Chen Jingshen, "I haven't eaten."

"Then just starve."

"He also hasn't eaten."

As if he understood, the dog stopped in place, "Awoo~" Yu Fan, "..." Chen Jingshen randomly chose a noodle store nearby. Afraid of the dog scaring the other people, he went inside and bought some takeout.

With the leash, one human and one dog stood guard outside. The store's business fell sharply during these ten minutes.

Not long afterwards, Chen Jingshen came out holding several plastic bags.

Yu Fan felt that he must be planning on giving the dog a big feast when he saw those bags.

Yu Fan brought them to a nearby artificial lake.

There were benches beside the lake. Yu Fan picked one at random and sat down. He lazily assessed the dog before him.

After Chen Jingshen sat down with him, the dog immediately turned his head and sat down beside him.

The dog looked just like the picture. With his ears standing tall, he looked quite noble as he sat there quietly.

While Yu Fan stared intently at the dog, the person next to him handed over a plastic bag.

"Extra bowl of noodles." Chen Jingshen explained, "That store was doing a buy one get one free deal."

Yu Fan didn't even look at it, "Not eating.."

Grumble.

His stomach grumbled.

Yu Fan, "."

Half a minute later, Yu Fan opened the plastic cover.

The smell of food wafted out. No longer able to sit still, the dog stood up and whined a few times.

Chen Jingshen rubbed his head, "Settle down."

Chen Jingshen's hand was slender and pale with well-defined joints. When he exerted force, the blood vessels on the back of his hand would protrude slightly. As his hands were big, whether it was spinning a pen or instructing his dog, it always gave off a calm and lazy air.

That hand moved from the dog's head to its neck and stopped on the metal muzzle.

Chen Jingshen looked back at him, "Do you mind?"

Yu Fan returned to his senses and shook his head.

After Chen Jingshen took off the muzzle, the dog immediately opened his mouth and let out a loud bark.

"Don't bark. Bark again and we're putting it back on." Chen Jingshen lightly patted the dog's face and then said, "He doesn't bite. He's only wearing this to reassure others."

"En." Yu Fan crossed his legs and asked casually, "What's his name?"

"Fan Fan."

"?"

When Fan Fan heard his name, he didn't dare make a sound and could only circle around Chen Jingshen's legs.

While holding the bowl, Yu Fan looked over, "Which 'Fan'?"

Chen Jingshen was silent for a moment, "The 'Fan' from 'Fan Hua Si Jin'."

(KKnotes: Something along the lines of 'a flourishing scene') "...."

It was normal for pets to have names with the same characters repeated twice and, although the word 'Fan' was rare, it wasn't one that wasn't used at all.

If it was someone else, Yu Fan would definitely not have thought too much of it.

But at this moment, he just felt that that name seemed to be related to him ——— Chen Jingshen fell into thought for a moment when he was met with Yu Fan's 'are you a pervert?' look on his face.

"I got him when I was in elementary school. He was given this name back then." Chen Jingshen grabbed the dog's collar and said lightly, "Come here, Fan Fan."

Yu Fan, "."

Chen Jingshen took out the name tag hanging from Fan Fan's neck.

Yu Fan squinted his eyes and looked.

Chen Jingshen's phone number was written on the front of the tag.

And a line was on the back: [Fan Fan. 2011.12.29] "That's his date of birth." Chen Jingshen said, "It's on all his name tags."

"...."

Fine then.

Yu Fan grouchily returned to eating his noodles.

Having not eaten anything, the dog continued to circle around their legs.

Chen Jingshen grabbed his collar and used his other hand to dig around the bag for a while.

He then took out a tea egg.

Yu Fan watched helplessly as the other party peeled the egg, ate the egg white himself and finally gave the egg yolk to Fa——-to that dog.

Yu Fan, "You only bought an egg for him?"

"En." Chen Jingshen, "Can't let him eat too much or I won't be able to hold him down."

"....."

You really are uselessly self-confident.

With the cold moon above and the occasional breeze, it was very comfortable.

After having a bowl of noodles, Yu Fan's nerves that had been tense all night relaxed.

He just had a small urge to smoke.

Yu Fan held it in and leaned back, "It doesn't look too hard to walk. How did you let him drag you around like that?"

"Can't restrain him when he gets excited." Chen Jingshen said, "But he's usually very good."

As if he knew that they were talking about him, Fan Fan raised his legs, wanting to climb onto Chen Jingshen's lap.

Chen Jingshen stretched his legs out and let him do as he pleased. His hand fell naturally onto his body and began to pet him.

Ding.

The sound of a phone notification brought Yu Fan back to his senses.

Dammit.

In the dark night, Yu Fan rubbed his face and fumbled for his phone.

[Wang Lu'an: My tortuous studying session is over, I've decided to relax a little. Anyone want to play games?]

[Wang Lu'an: @- Why are you offline? Not playing anymore?]

Yu Fan only now returned to his senses completely.

Why was he still sitting with Chen Jingshen after finishing eating?

"I'm going back." Yu Fan stood up, "Can you walk him back?"

"Yes."

Yu Fan turned around, "Then———" "Wait a second."

"I just saw a bookstore around the corner and want to buy a textbook."

Chen Jingshen grabbed Yu Fan's shirt with one hand and held the dog's leash with the other hand, "Can you watch over him for another five minutes?"

One human and one dog once again stood outside the bookstore.

After standing there for a while, Yu Fan looked down and met the dog's eyes.

A while later, he squatted down and said to the dog, "From now on, your name is Shen Shen."

Fan Fan, "...…" Yu Fan, "Shen Shen."

Fan Fan, "....."

Yu Fan frowned, "Can't you say something?"

Fan Fan, "....."

Yu Fan felt like an idiot trying to change the dog's name.

He straightened up, took out his phone and responded to Wang Lu'an's message from earlier.

A long time later, the door to the bookstore opened, the wind chime swaying in the air from the motion.

"Fan Fan."

Yu Fan subconsciously turned around —— Together with the dog beside him.

Chen Jingshen was originally looking at the dog but when he felt his gaze, he turned his eyes and looked at him.

Yu Fan, "....."

Why the fuck did I turn around???

"Awoooooo~!" The dog happily greeted Chen Jingshen through the muzzle.

Just as Chen Jingshen wanted to say something after coming over, the boy in front of him held out the leash with a dark look.

"Take your dog." His tone was worse than his expression.

Chen Jingshen let out an 'en' and received the leash. He then forced a slightly heavy bag into Yu Fan's hands.

"As thanks for tonight." Chen Jingshen said.

Yu Fan looked at the 'Dumb Birds Learn To Fly 2017' in the bag and said internally: You're welcome. Why don't I just send both you and your dog from this world now?