18 – Why is he called Brother Dog?
He warmly invited, “Stay and eat with us?”
Lin Yaojia wasn’t a shy person, especially when it came to eating with her idol.
Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Before agreeing, she politely asked, “Is it convenient?”
Though she asked this, her gaze was fixed on Huo Songjin.
Pang Meng was perceptive. He pursed his lips into a smile but didn’t respond, instead heading to the fridge to grab a can of beer.
Huo Songjin leaned lazily against the back of his chair. Hearing her question, he lifted his eyelids and met her gaze, his dark eyes unreadable.
After taking a sip of cola and swallowing, he said, “It’s fine.”
“Thanks, handsome.”
Lin Yaojia immediately sat down beside him with a beaming smile, holding her Wahaha drink. After a few sips, she suddenly remembered something important.
“Handsome, do you know my name?”
“Yeah,” Huo Songjin nodded.
He had seen it when filling out forms at the police station.
“That’s good,” she smiled again, her cherry-red lips parting to reveal her gums.
Huo Songjin’s fingers gripping the can suddenly tightened.
What was so funny about that?
He frowned, unable to understand.
Yet he thought her smile was quite nice.
Like the sun—the winter sun.
Warm but not scorching, leaving no place for the snow of December to hide, melting even ice into water.
The next second.
The boy abruptly straightened up.
What did it matter whether it was nice or not?!
What did it have to do with him?!
He must be going crazy.
Lin Yaojia was startled by him. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
A hint of annoyance flashed across Huo Songjin’s face as he instinctively ran his fingers through his hair.
His well-defined fingers combed through the silver strands.
Lin Yaojia exclaimed, “Are you really hot?”
“No,” Huo Songjin said.
Lin Yaojia pointed out, “But your ears are so red, and your neck is red too…”
Huo Songjin: “…”
Leaning back in his chair, he licked the roof of his mouth and said, “Shut up and drink your elementary school drink.”
Lin Yaojia: “…You’re the elementary schooler.”
What did Wahaha ever do to you?!
Cheng Yan came out with a plate of greens and was slightly surprised to see Lin Yaojia.
He greeted her, “What brings you here, miss?”
Pang Meng paused mid-sip of his beer. “You know her?”
He suddenly felt a sense of abandonment.
Cheng Yan walked over and sat opposite Lin Yaojia, saying, “She’s the one who beat up that idiot Lin Ci yesterday.”
Pang Meng had arrived late yesterday and missed the fight.
Regretful, he had pestered Cheng Yan to recount the incident in detail.
He took out his phone and looked at Lin Yaojia with slight admiration. “Beauty, wanna add me on WeChat?”
“Sure.”
Lin Yaojia also took out her phone. As she scanned Pang Meng’s QR code, she heard Cheng Yan say, “Let’s add each other too.”
“Of course, of course.”
Lin Yaojia’s WeChat was practically empty, with only Lin Fu, Lin Mu, Lin Jingbei, and Aunt Chen on it.
She didn’t even have any friends to scroll through and was more than happy to add more people.
Pang Meng looked at Lin Yaojia’s WeChat nickname, his expression somewhat complicated. “Your nickname is pretty cool, beauty.”
Lin Yaojia remembered she had deliberately changed her WeChat name to appear more masculine and laughed awkwardly. “Yeah?”
Cheng Yan glanced at it. “I think it’s fine.”
Lin Yaojia said, “I’ll send you my name so you can add a note.”
Pang Meng said, “I’ll send you mine too.”
Cheng Yan silently lowered his head and added a note for Lin Yaojia.
While the three of them were enthusiastically exchanging WeChat contacts, Huo Songjin, who had been sitting quietly to the side, suddenly pursed his lips, his fingers tightening around the soda can until it dented inward.
Yet his expression remained as aloof and indifferent as ever.
Lin Yaojia glanced at him discreetly and said with a smile, “Big shot, let’s add each other too.”
Huo Songjin paused for a moment before replying with a faint “Hmm,” appearing rather reluctant.
But his hand obediently picked up his phone.
He opened the QR code and slid it in front of Lin Yaojia.
Seeing the familiar QR code, Lin Yaojia’s smile froze abruptly.
She had almost forgotten—she had already added him!
Damn!
In a panic, Lin Yaojia quickly turned off her phone.
Huo Songjin: “…”
Lin Yaojia touched her earlobe and said awkwardly, “My phone… suddenly ran out of battery… hahahaha…”
She laughed alone for a few moments before finally trailing off.
Because Huo Songjin was looking at her with lowered eyelids, his expression unreadable.
His eyes had distinct double eyelids, with deep creases and dark pupils, as if they rarely saw light.
They were narrow and long in shape, with a tiny black mole at the corner—a perfect finishing touch.
Yet this person was always distant and indifferent, rarely showing much emotion in his eyes. Even after meeting him several times, aside from the first time at the internet café when the power suddenly went out while he was gaming, Lin Yaojia had never seen any other emotion in those eyes.
But now, she could sense displeasure.
Lin Yaojia licked her lips and said, “My phone really ran out of battery. Can we add each other next time?”
Huo Songjin didn’t respond.
Pang Meng said carelessly, “No big deal, Sister Jia. I’ll send you Dog Brother’s WeChat tonight.”
“Alright,” Lin Yaojia gritted her teeth and nodded.
At worst, she could just create another alternate account tonight.
For now, she just needed to get through this.
She was completely unaware that her lie was growing bigger and bigger.
When the hotpot started boiling, everyone realized something awkward.
Lin Yaojia didn’t have any bowls or chopsticks in front of her.
“I almost forgot, sorry about that,” Cheng Yan said, following Pang Meng’s lead and calling her, “Sister Jia, I’ll go get them for you right now.”
“It’s fine,” Lin Yaojia replied with an indifferent smile.
Huo Songjin, who had been silent beside her, suddenly pushed his own clean bowl and chopsticks toward her. “You can use mine for now. I’ll go get another set.”
He stood up, pressed Cheng Yan’s shoulder to keep him seated, and headed straight for the second floor.
Cheng Yan glanced at Lin Yaojia’s bewildered expression before turning to watch Huo Songjin’s retreating figure.
He clicked his tongue, leaned back in his chair, and said to Pang Meng, “Fatty, eat less.”
Pang Meng was using the communal chopsticks to scoop up duck blood. “Why do you sound like my mom? So naggy.”
Cheng Yan patted his shoulder. “I’m just worried you won’t find a partner.”
Pang Meng scooped up some more beef and said, “You should worry about Dog Brother first. Even though he’s better-looking than me, his rotten temper is unmatched across the country. He looks destined to be alone forever!”
Cheng Yan’s gaze swept over Lin Yaojia, lingering for just a second before he quickly looked away and said with a smile, “That’s not necessarily true.”
Pang Meng scoffed.
Seeing that the two had dropped the topic, Lin Yaojia asked curiously, “Why do you call him Dog Brother?”
Pang Meng perked up. “Don’t you think his temper is really dog-like?”
Lin Yaojia thought about it and realized it was true.
When they first met, he was already acting all arrogant.
Even now that they knew each other, he still had that distant, cold, and lazy demeanor.
“That’s exactly it,” Pang Meng said. “You don’t know, his temper was even worse when he was a kid.”
“When I was six, we were in the same kindergarten. I accidentally ate one of his little bunny-shaped steamed buns, and while I was in the bathroom, he teamed up with Cheng Yan to corner me and beat me up.”
Pang Meng grew angrier as he spoke, turning to glare at Cheng Yan and accusing him, “You two nearly gave me childhood trauma.”
Cheng Yan scoffed, “Cut the crap. You saw Dog Brother was young and the shortest in the class, so you thought he was easy to pick on and stole his bun.”
Pang Meng rubbed his nose. “Wasn’t I just hungry?”
He quickly changed the subject. “Of course, that was only one of the reasons.”
“What’s the other one?” Lin Yaojia asked.
“The other reason is his nickname…”
Before Pang Meng could finish, an extremely low and cold voice came from behind him. “Pang Meng.”
He immediately shut his mouth.
Huo Songjin, holding a freshly washed bowl and chopsticks, sat down and fixed a dark, icy gaze on Pang Meng.
Pang Meng stiffened completely.
He lowered his head and began eating furiously.
Lin Yaojia, who had been listening to the gossip halfway through, clicked her tongue lightly. “Meng-ge, go on.”
Pang Meng, being called “ge” by a pretty girl for the first time, blurted out without thinking in his excitement. But when he met Huo Songjin’s indifferent gaze from across the table, he sobered up abruptly.
He lowered his head and found the chat window of the friend he had just added.
Pang Meng: [Later, I’ll message you on WeChat.]
Lin Yaojia felt her phone vibrate and instinctively glanced at Pang Meng, who winked at her.
Lin Yaojia immediately knew who had sent the message. She really wanted to check her phone, but with Huo Songjin still there, she resisted the strong urge and quietly continued eating her hotpot.