An hour ago, Huo Chengye accompanied his roommate to the supermarket to buy daily necessities and picked up some snacks along the way. On the walk back, it suddenly occurred to him that he should treat Professor Ji to a meal to get better acquainted with each other. Consequently, he abandoned his roommate and took a taxi to the best seaside restaurant in town.
During the ride, he searched for Professor Ji’s social media account using his mobile phone number and sent a friend request, but it remained unanswered.
As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, Huo Chengye was targeted by a blue and white Border Collie. The dog was holding its own leash in its mouth, staring intently at the half-stick of beef jerky in Huo Chengye’s hand, its eyes full of longing.
Huo Chengye teased it for a bit and fed it the beef jerky in his hand. In return, the dog handed its leash over to Huo Chengye.
The man and the dog got along extremely well. Seeing that he still had plenty of time, Huo Chengye made a last-minute decision to help the Border Collie find its owner. He asked it somewhat symbolically, “Where is your owner?” To his surprise, the dog actually understood and led him toward the direction of the pier.
What surprised Huo Chengye even more was that its owner turned out to be Ji Xingjian.
As the setting sun dipped below the horizon, Ji Xingjian sat alone on a bench, the dim, warm light falling across his face as if wrapped in an unearned halo.
As expected, Ji Xingjian looked quite surprised upon seeing him, but quickly recovered his composure, his voice stiff and curt, “What are you doing here?”
Huo Chengye raised an eyebrow. For some reason, the moment he saw Ji Xingjian, an urge to tease him welled up inside. He chuckled softly and asked, “Why can’t I be here? Don’t tell me you rented out this entire ocean?”
Although Ji Xingjian did not say anything, the corners of his mouth twitching downward secretly gave everything away.
“Woof, woof.” The Border Collie let out two low barks, its cool, damp nose rubbing against his palm, its eyes never leaving the beef jerky.
Ji Xingjian could more or less guess why Huo Chengye had appeared before him. The gluttonous dog must have spotted him eating on the side of the road and taken advantage of the situation, leading Huo Chengye to chase it all the way here.
At this thought, Ji Xingjian, who was already in a bad mood, felt even more annoyed.
He gave the dog’s head a disapproving tap, steadied his emotions, and looked at Huo Chengye with a hint of apology, “How much do these things cost in total? I will transfer the money to you.” As he spoke, he picked up his phone, ready to send the money.
“There is no need for money. Just accept my friend request so it is easier to stay in touch.”
Ji Xingjian processed this for five seconds before realizing that the friend request had been sent by Huo Chengye.
While Ji Xingjian was filling in the contact remark, Huo Chengye suddenly asked, “Professor Ji, what is its name? Is it a boy or a girl, and how old is it?”
Ji Xingjian answered casually, “Xiao Ye, a boy, one and a half years old.”
Hearing his owner say his name, the Border Collie immediately shifted its gaze from the beef jerky to Ji Xingjian, wagging its tail happily and letting out a couple of light barks in acknowledgment.
The smile on Huo Chengye’s face stiffened slightly. “You named him?”
“Yes. What is wrong?” When Xiao Ye first arrived home, he was as mischievous and energetic as a wild child, so Ji Xingjian gave him that name.
Huo Chengye gave a soft snort, “Nice.”
Noticing that the Alpha’s tone was a bit off, Ji Xingjian looked up at him and found that his expression was not very good either. Just as he was wondering where he had offended the man, it suddenly hit him that his name was Huo Chengye.
“You…”
“What about me?” Huo Chengye held the leash in one hand while stuffing the other into his pocket, staring down at Ji Xingjian from a towering height with an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Ji Xingjian smiled awkwardly, “I am sorry. I did not mean to. I did not know your name was also…”
Huo Chengye let out a light scoff. Naturally, he had heard Dean Hao call him by his name back at the school. “Why are you suddenly apologizing? The law does not state that a dog cannot share a name with a person.”
Ji Xingjian quietly withdrew his gaze, thinking to himself that aside from the character “Ye”, he had no idea what the other two characters of Huo Chengye’s name were, so he typed into the remark field: Xiao Ye (Human).