"Pei Chongqing, I miss home."
Yu Ning named this dog that had suddenly appeared Yu Wan, and personally carved a dog tag out of a wooden board with a carving knife to hang around its neck.
Yu Wan was indeed an Earth-Pine dog—not only broad and sturdy in build, but also thick in fur. The name tag she had made was as big as a palm, quite clunky, but it fit perfectly on the dog.
Pei Chongqing stared unblinkingly at the tag Yu Wan had just put on, so much so that Yu Wan kept its head lowered, not daring to show any sign of excitement, and tried its best to cover the tag with its thick fur.
But those two characters did not escape Pei Chongqing's eyes. He narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Yu Ning. Why. This. Name."
He was still using the Translator, but because his vocal cords had been replaced, his speech was much smoother now—though from Yu Ning's perspective, it was a matter of practice making perfect.
Hearing his question, Yu Ning was surprised, thinking he wouldn't have any objections: "Is Yu Wan not a good name?"
"Too much. Like you." He said.
Yu Ning explained, "Because it has the same surname as me—we're both Yu."
Pei Chongqing frowned: "Why."
"—Am I not?"
Yu Ning was stunned for a moment, then laughed at his words: "You want to take my surname?"
Pei Chongqing didn't respond, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly along with her laughter, which counted as acknowledgment.
Yu Ning reached up to stroke his face, stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, and answered seriously, "I prefer the name you have now."
Pei Chongqing didn't want too much difference between himself and Yu Ning, especially when compared to others. Since Yu Ning preferred this name that carried a difference, he could accept it. Besides, in the secular human view, difference also meant "special."
The name tag on Yu Wan's neck still looked glaring to him. Pei Chongqing lowered his gaze to fix on her, pointed at Yu Wan who was crouching slightly to the side, and said word by word, "This. I want one too."
Yu Ning: "…That's something only dogs wear."
Pei Chongqing insisted stubbornly, "You said I am. Your little dog."
"You often. Say that."
"…"
Yu Ning shook her head and patiently explained again, "That's a metaphor, a metaphor—don't you understand? I taught you that."
Pei Chongqing said nothing, his silver-white eyes fixed intently on her, clearly not having taken it in.
Yu Ning couldn't talk him out of it, so she had no choice but to carve one for him too. But wearing it around his neck was simply indecent, so she made it in the style of a workplace name badge and clipped it to his collar.
But even so, Yu Ning felt it was strange—after all, he wasn't her subordinate.
After thinking it over, Yu Ning simply took off Yu Wan's tag as well. That way, he wouldn't keep pining for it.
Pei Chongqing's competitiveness was intense—so intense it was unreasonable, and he could compete over anything, even a dog.
He wouldn't let Yu Wan sleep in the bedroom, wouldn't let her bathe Yu Wan, and even for walks, he had to be the one holding the leash. Yu Ning didn't get much of the experience of owning a dog, but she truly couldn't bring herself to treat her husband the same way by putting a collar and leash on him.
That was too absurd—calling it childish would already be putting it kindly; it could almost be described as a little dog guarding its food. Pei Chongqing clearly regarded Yu Wan as a fellow creature, or a rival to compare against. To correct this way of thinking, Yu Ning stopped calling him "little dog" and often asked him, as the master and father of the household, to yield to their furry child.
Over time, Pei Chongqing also came to understand that such behavior was beneath him, and stopped doing those bizarre things.
Perhaps it was the word "father" that snapped him back to reality. After their intimacy, he lowered his head to rest against her lower belly, pressing and kneading the soft flesh with his palm again and again, asking why there was still no sign of life taking root there.
Yu Ning's scalp prickled, unable to tell if she felt tense or relieved. She knew it—Pei Chongqing really did have a breeding urge.
Yu Ning had never been fond of lying, nor did she see any need to lie to a savage who had never been socialized. But she had to admit that telling a few inconsequential lies could save her a great deal of trouble.
"No fate, I suppose."
Yu Ning reached out and ran her fingers through his silver hair, speaking in a low voice. "Besides… giving birth here would be terribly irresponsible to the child."
Responsibility.
Pei Chongqing had learned the meaning of that word, and had heard Yu Ning mention it once before, after that male prostitute had met his death. He curved his eyes into a smile and promised her, "I can protect. You. Won't. Die."
Yu Ning shook her head. "Just staying alive isn't nearly enough."
And who could say for certain how many days any of them had left?
Jiang Xian was right—scraping by in this place gave you nothing to look forward to, and staying too long would rot your mind.
She was grateful she still had some clarity left, that she hadn't become a monster, or… completely sunk into this place, forgetting the past.
Having a new member in the household was nice, but it also constantly reminded her that her current situation wasn't as safe, free, or comfortable as she'd imagined.
Every day she could only walk the dog around the house, every day she had to be vigilant about whether the doors and windows were secure, unable to leave this tiny patch of land, and always on edge.
That tattered old book—she couldn't decipher it, but the illustrations in it made her heart race with terror.
Even now, Yu Ning couldn't forget the sight of Jiang Xian's brutal death or the monster she'd glimpsed through the window.
She didn't know how Jiang Xian had actually died, nor when the same fate might befall her.
Granted, Pei Chongqing could provide her with ample security, but in this bizarre world devoid of freedom, how could she deceive herself into carelessly bearing a child?
Even raising a dog was exhausting and confining enough.
Yu Ning had so much she wanted to pour out, but when she looked into those unusual silver eyes, she knew he wouldn't understand. So she didn't want to continue this topic and turned over to sleep. Pei Chongqing gripped her waist and pressed further, "What else do you want?"
"What do I want?"
He was stubborn—if he didn't get an answer, he would keep asking.
He was getting on her nerves. A pent-up frustration that had been building for a long time refused to dissipate, and she couldn't help but sit up, wrenching herself free from his hold.
"I want freedom! I want social interaction! I want my own space and knowledge too!" she said with a frown, her voice raised. Then, like a balloon that had been pricked, she deflated all at once.
Yu Ning's tears fell, and she lowered her head to wipe them away with the back of her hand. "You've always been in this world, so you probably don't understand. You think as long as there's food to eat and a place to stay, everything's fine. But I used to live in a normal world—I lived in a free and easy village, I went to school, I had friends. That kind of life can't even be compared to this place."
"Do you think living here is safe enough? Living here is worse than being a homeless person back in my world, let alone the fact that you used to wander around like that yourself!"
She could have simply told him directly that without the protection of science and technology, childbirth was an extremely dangerous endeavor that could threaten her life—he would absolutely understand that. But her tongue slipped, and she couldn't help blurting all of this out instead.
These were true words, heartfelt words, yet they also truly humiliated him, belittled him.
In a place like this, how could one still care about intellectual freedom? Simply surviving was the greatest blessing imaginable.
Pei Chongqing could not choose his own life. For the twenty-odd years before he met her, he had likely been alone all along.
Yu Ning took a deep breath, and tears continued to stream down her face. She couldn't tell whether she was crying for herself or for him—perhaps both. Her almond-shaped eyes brimmed with tears like glass beads, her vision hazy as she looked at him, unable to discern his reaction, whether he was angry. Though they had never fought before—and he could never win an argument against her anyway—she still felt guilty for those words and lowered her head to apologize.
Pei Chongqing needed time to process Yu Ning's words, but seeing her cry, he instinctively pulled her into his embrace.
It was a habit formed during the time when they couldn't communicate, and the only way he had learned to comfort his partner.
Even with a fully restored new vocal cords, Pei Chongqing still could not bring himself to speak. He had his own considerations—he knew well that Yu Ning had not yet forgotten that courtesan. If she heard the voice of the deceased coming from his mouth, she would absolutely be frightened. Besides, he disliked using another person's voice to call his wife's name.
He had also learned to use the Translator, producing coherent and fluent sentences, but he was still at the stage of borrowing others' words. He remembered the last time he'd quoted those romantic lines—not only had they failed to charm Yu Ning, they had sent her into fits of laughter.
Pei Chongqing could now distinguish the multiple meanings of human laughter, and he knew Yu Ning was laughing at him.
But he felt not a trace of anger. Seeing his wife laugh so freely, he would laugh along with her.
Later, when he learned those words were written by another man for another woman, he stopped quoting them.
The reason was the same as why he didn't use the new vocal cords.
He didn't want his expressions to his wife to carry another person's scent—this was a metaphor he had coined himself.
Yu Ning clearly preferred silent embraces and kisses.
Her body melted like water in his arms, forcing him to hold her tighter, and he bowed his head to lick away the tears at the corners of her eyes with his tongue.
Pei Chongqing loved drinking her water—whether from above or below—to him it was like depositing his seed into her womb, a union of two becoming one.
At first, he had wanted to take her apart and devour her, or sew her into the place closest to his heart, but that would have drained the life from her, so he didn't do such things.
He had gradually become a normal person, reaching the closest position to her in a way she could accept.
Yu Ning's trembling body gradually calmed. Pei Chongqing knew his comfort had worked, but when his wife lifted her head, he still saw her tear-streaked face, delicate as pear blossoms in rain.
"Pei Chongqing, I want to go home."
Her voice trembled as she pleaded: "Can you really not help me find a way back?"