Pampering My Cute Pet

Shen Qingzhou looked at the person in front of him, her dark pupils still carrying a trace of bewilderment…

He held her gaze for a few seconds, then his eyes fell on the two pet dogs that had just been awakened. Hongdou and Yu Diandian leaned against his legs, one on each side, looking up at him with the adorable smiles characteristic of Samoyeds.

Shen Qingzhou paused, then looked back at Yu Wan. Seeing this, he felt like he was raising three pet dogs…

For some inexplicable reason, the coldness in Shen Qingzhou's expression softened.

Yu Wan, having come to her senses, hurriedly released her hold. She jumped down from the sofa and looked at Shen Qingzhou with some embarrassment. "I accidentally fell asleep. Wait a moment! I'll go cook right away."

After saying this, she hurried towards the kitchen. Only after entering the kitchen did Yu Wan belatedly realize that Shen Qingzhou's expression had initially been very cold, but later seemed to warm up considerably. This… should mean he wasn't blaming her for hugging him, right?

In the living room, Shen Qingzhou looked at Yu Wan's bustling figure, an unconscious smile fleetingly gracing his lips.

Shen Qingzhou sat down on the sofa. His designated spot still retained Yu Wan's warmth. The sensation was somewhat strange, making him aware of the lingering warmth of her presence around his waist. Shen Qingzhou wasn't quite accustomed to this feeling. He remained silent for a moment, then picked up the air conditioner remote and lowered the room temperature by two degrees.

Placing the remote on the coffee table, Shen Qingzhou's gaze fell upon the documents there. The words "Wolf's Fang" on the cover page were particularly prominent. He reached out, picked them up, and casually flipped through a few pages. The pages were densely covered with revisions and annotations, revealing the owner's meticulous care and attention to detail. Shen Qingzhou flipped to the last page and saw the two characters "Wei Wan" written at the end.

Wei Wan, Yu Wan.

Shen Qingzhou looked towards the person in the kitchen. So it was her.

"Three dishes and one soup, complete." Yu Wan untied her apron and brought out two bowls of rice.

Shen Qingzhou sat at the dining table, looking at the dishes before him: twice-cooked pork, dry-fried green beans, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a mushroom and seafood soup. Four very ordinary home-style dishes, but exquisitely prepared.

Yu Wan propped her chin on her hand and watched him. "Try it."

Shen Qingzhou picked up his chopsticks and took a bite. Yu Wan's eyes lingered on his hand holding the chopsticks; his movements were graceful and captivating.

"Not bad, right?" Putting aside other things, Yu Wan was quite confident in her cooking skills.

Shen Qingzhou nodded. "Passable."

"Of course." Yu Wan was naturally in high spirits after receiving his praise. She had never thought much of her cooking skills before, but today… she suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment.

Yu Wan picked up her chopsticks and started eating as well. Shen Qingzhou's hand, holding a green bean, paused. He looked up at Yu Wan. She was eating naturally, seemingly unaware of anything amiss. But he didn't recall saying she could eat with him.

Normally, Shen Qingzhou would have simply ushered her away, but today he lacked the inclination. Forget it, if he chased her away directly, it wouldn't be worth it if she refused to cook for him in the future.

The two ate in silence. Yu Diandian and Hongdou also came over to join in the fun. Yu Diandian barked twice beside Yu Wan. Yu Wan said, exasperated, "What do you want? Aren't you full?"

"Woof woof!"

At home, Yu Diandian occasionally liked to sneak a bite of her dinner. Yu Wan, resigned, tossed a piece of meat into its mouth. Yu Diandian enjoyed it contentedly. At this moment, Hongdou unexpectedly followed suit. Yu Wan glanced at Shen Qingzhou. "Can he eat this?"

It was just meat. Shen Qingzhou didn't say anything, but simply nodded. Having received permission, Yu Wan fed Hongdou a bite.

As she fed them, the two dogs became increasingly enthusiastic, taking several bites and refusing to leave.

Yu Wan pretended to be angry. "I'm not feeding you anymore. If you two eat everything, how can I feed Mr. Shen?"

Shen Qingzhou, "…"

"Your Highness, go play with Hongdou. Don't steal other people's dinner."

Yu Diandian and Hongdou finally slunk away. Yu Wan looked at them with satisfaction, then turned back to Shen Qingzhou. "If they like it so much, I'll have to cook more meat next time, so there's enough for the three of you."

Shen Qingzhou, "…"

Was something not quite right here?

After finishing the meal, Yu Wan placed her own bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen and went to play with Hongdou and Yu Diandian. Shen Qingzhou looked at the leftover dishes and chopsticks on the table, then walked towards Yu Wan.

"The dishes aren't washed."

Yu Wan, lying amidst the two adorable pets, pushed Yu Diandian's approaching head away. "Then you wash them."

Shen Qingzhou froze, looking at Yu Wan incredulously. "I wash them?"

Yu Wan nodded. "You hired me to cook, not to wash dishes. Mr. Shen, I cook, you wash, isn't that perfect?"

Shen Qingzhou, "…"

He had never washed dishes in his life.

Yu Wan, amused by Hongdou and Yu Diandian, took a moment to reply to Shen Qingzhou. "Or you can take the dishes to my place to wash. I have a dishwasher… Ah, Hongdou, let go, let go…"

Shen Qingzhou looked down at the chaotic trio, took a deep breath, and silently turned towards the kitchen.

He couldn't tolerate a messy house. There was no housekeeper at the moment, and the cook he hired was actually refusing to wash dishes with a straight face. Shen Qingzhou was speechless, because it seemed he hadn't actually mentioned this detail.

He stared at the leftover food and finally gathered the dishes and chopsticks into the kitchen.

Yu Wan played with the two dogs for a while. Catching sight of Shen Qingzhou in the kitchen out of the corner of her eye, she stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

She enjoyed cooking but loathed washing dishes, hence the dishwasher at home. She hadn't been entirely serious about him washing the dishes, just joking. She had planned to take them back to her place and use the dishwasher later. But unexpectedly, Shen Qingzhou was actually washing the dishes in the kitchen.

She leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching his figure, watching him somewhat clumsily wash and rinse each dish and utensil. "Mr. Shen, have you never washed dishes before?"

Without answering, Shen Qingzhou glanced back at her, his gaze cold. "Buy a dishwasher tomorrow."

"…Oh."

After packing her things, Yu Wan took Yu Diandian home. She opened Weibo, suddenly remembering something, and typed "Shen Qingzhou" in the search bar.

Sure enough, there was a verified Weibo account. Yu Wan clicked on it excitedly, but apart from official movie promotion posts, there was nothing else, no trace of his personal life.

Despite this, Yu Wan still followed Shen Qingzhou's Weibo. Thus, the number of people she followed, previously limited to Jian Yunong and Yu Huan, increased by one.

The routine of preparing dinner for Shen Qingzhou continued for two weeks. She presented a variety of dishes, and although he didn't say much, Yu Wan could tell he was quite satisfied with her cooking.

However, his attitude remained aloof. Fortunately, Yu Wan didn't mind. She enjoyed admiring the handsome man every day.

In addition, Jian Yunong had been calling her every few days, the topic of conversation invariably revolving around Shen Qingzhou. On the other end of the phone, she would effusively express her admiration for Director Shen, incessantly urging Yu Wan to dedicate herself completely to him, to the point of death. After learning that Yu Wan was cooking for him, she acted as if she would faint from excitement, constantly pestering Yu Wan to secretly take pictures of Shen Qingzhou eating. Of course, Yu Wan absolutely would not, and dared not, do such a thing.

One Friday morning, Yu Wan got up, washed up, and prepared to do some writing.

Just as she sat down at her computer, the doorbell rang. Yu Wan stood up and slowly went to open the door. Peeking through the peephole, she instantly perked up.

Quickly opening the door, she greeted, "Mr. Shen, morning."

Shen Qingzhou, "Not morning, it's ten o'clock."

"Oh."

Yu Wan coughed awkwardly, then sized up Shen Qingzhou. She noticed he was dressed formally today, in a shirt and tie, with a suit jacket draped over his arm. He stood there, exuding an aura of austere allure.

Yu Wan, "Are you looking for me?" This was the second time he had stood at her door, a rare occurrence, as they usually communicated by phone.

Shen Qingzhou said, "I have to go out for a few days. I'd like to trouble you to take care of Hongdou."

Yu Wan looked down at Hongdou beside him. "No problem, but… when will you be back?"

"Uncertain."

"Oh, okay."

Shen Qingzhou added, "You only need to prepare his food and take him for a walk in the evening. Otherwise, he can stay at home."

Yu Wan frowned. "Isn't it good to leave him alone at home? How about letting him stay at my place for these few days? Yu Diandian can keep him company, and I can also keep an eye on him."

Shen Qingzhou was silent for a moment. "Alright."

"Okay." Yu Wan smiled and squatted down. "Hongdou, you're with me for the next few days. Are you happy?"

"Woof woof!!"

Shen Qingzhou, "I'll be going now."

Yu Wan looked up at him, holding Hongdou's front paw. "Say goodbye to your owner."

Shen Qingzhou glanced at Yu Wan's bright smile, then squatted down and patted Hongdou's head, saying in a low voice, "Be good."

"I know."

Shen Qingzhou paused, looking at the person who had eagerly answered, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

Yu Wan belatedly realized the strangeness of the exchange. She corrected herself, "Hongdou will be very good. I'll call you if there are any problems."

Shen Qingzhou hummed in acknowledgement, stood up, and turned to leave. Hongdou barked a few times at his retreating figure, then followed Yu Wan back inside.

Shen Qingzhou had been gone for four days, calling every evening on time. Yu Wan dutifully reported Hongdou's daily condition to him.

That day, Yu Wan followed her usual routine, taking Yu Diandian and Hongdou for a walk. She trailed behind them, reaching the community garden to play.

There were three children, around twelve or thirteen years old, in the garden, presumably residents of the community. They saw Yu Diandian and Hongdou and immediately ran over to play with them.

Yu Diandian was relatively outgoing, while Hongdou was a bit more reserved around strangers. The children seemed to like them very much, petting them enthusiastically.

Yu Wan stood at a distance, smiling as she watched the children surround the two dogs. She habitually wore earbuds, and seeing that Hongdou and Yu Diandian had stopped, she sat down on a bench in the garden, listening to music and looking at the artificial lake at the edge of the garden.

Yu Wan hadn't paid attention to the two dogs for a short while, so when she heard Yu Diandian's bark faintly through her earbuds, she looked over curiously.

The scene she saw was enough to make her heart pound, all her blood rushing to her head.

"What are you doing!!" Yu Wan felt like she had never screamed so loudly in her life. She rushed between the dogs and the group of children, her hands trembling.

The three children, clearly unaware that the owner was Yu Wan, turned pale when they saw her rushing over.

"I, I didn't do it on purpose," one of the boys, wearing a blue T-shirt, said fearfully.

"Yes, yes, yes, my brother didn't mean to. It suddenly rushed forward, and my brother was scared, so he scratched it!" The girl shielded her brother behind her, raising her head and saying loudly.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Hongdou is so gentle, why would he pounce on you!" Yu Wan was furious. She knew Hongdou; he was so docile, how could he inexplicably hurt someone?

"It… it pounced, it was going to bite…" The girl who spoke stared intently at Yu Wan.

Yu Wan looked at them coldly, her anger intensifying.

But now was not the time for anger or frustration. Yu Wan turned and squatted down to examine Hongdou's injury. There was a wound on his side, she didn't know how deep or long, because the blood had matted his fur, making it impossible to see clearly.

Yu Wan caught sight of the utility knife in the child's hand out of the corner of her eye. Her temples throbbed painfully, and her heart clenched. Yu Diandian had been sick once, and Yu Wan had been terribly worried. Now, seeing Hongdou's bloody wound, she was completely stunned.

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