Chapter 38
In all this time, other than raising chicks with his grandparents when he was little, Jiang Qingyu had only ever raised Meimei, this one small animal.
Now, by some twist of fate, he had picked up a little dog too, and he was truly a little excited.
Under their repeated efforts to keep it warm, the puppy’s body temperature rose a little. Its originally wet fur had mostly dried as well. Its two bright black eyes rolled around, looking at Jiang Qingyu for a while, then staring at Fu Jingqiu.
Meimei had supervised from the side for a long while. Finally, she moved. She placed both front paws on the puppy’s little nest, poked her head inside, and tentatively sniffed and sniffed, wanting to remember the puppy’s smell.
When the puppy suddenly saw Meimei, it shrank back in fear and started whimpering again while hiding. Such a tiny little ball looked much smaller and thinner than Meimei, who had been raised until her coat was glossy and smooth.
Jiang Qingyu secretly observed from the side and asked Fu Jingqiu in a breathy voice, “What do you think we should name it? Should we call it Little Cat?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Little Cat?” His expression turned troubled. “That doesn’t seem good, does it?”
Jiang Qingyu was delighted. “I’m just teasing you.”
When they helped wipe the puppy earlier, they had also taken a look and found that it was a little boy. So he said, “The cat is called Meimei, so should it be called Gege?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “It clearly looks younger than Meimei. It can’t be called Gege.”
“Oh, right, right.” But calling it Didi sounded a bit awkward for some reason. Jiang Qingyu did not really like it.
This really was a difficult problem.
Jiang Qingyu leaned against the edge of the table just like that, deep in thought. The puppy gradually adapted to Meimei’s presence and stopped trembling. It kept looking at the two of them, not missing anyone. Its eyes carried a clever spark, yet because of its skinny little body, it looked especially pitiful.
Both of Meimei’s paws stepped onto the blanket inside the nest. She tentatively kneaded it a few times. Seeing that the puppy did not react too much, she lowered her head and wanted to lick its head, but Jiang Qingyu quickly scooped her up. “Hey! What are you doing, Meimei?”
Meimei lay in his arms and confidently gave a “meow.”
Jiang Qingyu said seriously, “Not yet. Of course you’re the boss, but it hasn’t been dewormed or had a checkup yet. Tonight, you two can’t stay in the same room.”
As he spoke, he turned to Fu Jingqiu. “Tonight, Meimei sleeps with you.”
Fu Jingqiu: ?
Meimei: ???
He had thought Jiang Qingyu would put the puppy in the living room, while Meimei would sleep in the bedroom with him as usual.
Jiang Qingyu had no choice either. To be honest, he was even wondering whether he should just tell Fu Jingqiu about the space. Otherwise, he always had to think up so many excuses to explain all the unreasonable things about this vehicle. Sometimes, if he forgot what he had said before and his explanations contradicted each other, it would look very suspicious too.
But he also had no choice but to hide it.
First, even though Jiang Qingyu liked him now and trusted Fu Jingqiu a great deal, the two of them had not known each other for very long after all. The apocalypse had only just begun, so it could not yet be called sharing hardship.
Second, how should he put it? This kind of thing was still a little beyond imagination. Fu Jingqiu was also a materialist, after all.
He was quite conflicted.
For now, he could only brace himself and keep hiding it as much as possible, hoping Fu Jingqiu would be smart enough that even if he noticed something was wrong, he would not ask too much. It would be best if everyone understood without saying it aloud.
Though that possibility was not very high.
Fu Jingqiu took Meimei, holding the little cat with one arm and supporting Meimei’s paws with his other hand. Uncertainly, he asked, “Let Meimei sleep with me?”
“Yeah.” Jiang Qingyu watched Meimei hook her tail around Fu Jingqiu’s arm and reluctantly stroked the little cat’s back. “It’s fine. Just for tonight.”
Fu Jingqiu asked, “So the puppy sleeps with you?”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Mm-hm.”
At night, he had to put the puppy into the medical cabin, give it a checkup, and heal its injuries.
Seeing that he had already made his decision, Fu Jingqiu did not persuade him further. He helped move the storage box containing the puppy’s nest into Jiang Qingyu’s room.
At this point, they no longer had any mind to watch exercise videos or anything like that. Whoever needed to shower showered, and whoever needed to tidy up tidied up.
Jiang Qingyu quickly finished washing up. After closing the electronic door properly, he carefully carried out the low-whimpering puppy.
Following his operation, a virtual door appeared on the bedroom wardrobe. Jiang Qingyu walked in. Inside was a completely sterile environment.
The operating table was connected to a cabin that looked very much like a high-tech device from the outside. Jiang Qingyu stroked the baby border collie’s head and softly coaxed it a few times before placing it inside.
Through the glass cabin door, the trembling puppy stared at him with a pair of wet eyes.
Jiang Qingyu’s heart softened at the sight. As he operated the medical cabin and started it, cold light lit up inside the cabin. A ring-shaped halo swept over the puppy’s body from top to bottom, circle by circle.
A fracture in the right hind leg, malnutrition, and injuries between the toes of the front paws. Other than that, there were no major problems.
The medical cabin could heal external wounds like these. As for the malnutrition, that had to be slowly nursed back. As long as it ate well, slept well, and got enough exercise, puppies grew very quickly.
Not long afterward, Jiang Qingyu carried the puppy out of the medical cabin.
Now, its body was completely dry. The pain was gone, and its hind leg had recovered as good as new.
Although there was high-tech equipment helping, Jiang Qingyu still felt a little worried. He carefully checked the puppy all over. There were no fleas, and it was actually quite clean.
After being carried out, the puppy no longer trembled. It nestled in the crook of Jiang Qingyu’s arm and tried hard to lift its face to look at him. Little coquettish whines squeezed from its throat. It seemed to know that Jiang Qingyu had just saved it and once again tentatively licked his fingers.
Jiang Qingyu smiled and rubbed its head twice. “You really know how to act cute, huh?”
He quietly carried the puppy back to the room, placed its nest below the steps beside the bed, changed his clothes, and swiftly climbed onto the bed. Leaning sideways against the headboard, he bent over to look at the puppy.
The puppy could already stand now, but even when it stood, it was not very tall. It worked hard to raise its head and whimpered twice.
Jiang Qingyu held back a laugh. “Mm? Are you saying good night to me?”
The puppy whimpered again.
“All right, all right. Good night. Tomorrow I’ll think of a name for you, okay? Sleep. There’ll be delicious food tomorrow.”
In the middle of the night, Jiang Qingyu suddenly woke with a start. He remembered that the puppy was not like Meimei, who had a litter box to use. It needed a pee pad.
A miscalculation, a miscalculation!
He suddenly rolled out of bed, turned on the light, and looked below the bed.
The puppy was sleeping very soundly in its blanket. When the light suddenly turned on, it also opened its eyes groggily and looked toward Jiang Qingyu.
Jiang Qingyu hurriedly searched the space and found a pee pad, placing it under the puppy’s nest. If it woke up before Jiang Qingyu did, it could take care of things on the pee pad first.
Although puppies could hold their urine, it was raining heavily outside now. It was so tiny, and Jiang Qingyu did not really want to take it outside to get rained on. Anyway, it was still small, so it could handle things inside the vehicle for now.
Regardless of whether it understood or not, after laying out the pee pad, Jiang Qingyu squatted beside its nest. “Here. You can pee here. If you poop and think it stinks, then bark loudly and wake me up. I’ll take care of it.”
The puppy stared at him and tilted its head, no one knew whether it understood or not.
Jiang Qingyu simply treated it as if it understood, then climbed back onto the bed to continue sleeping.
When he woke up again, sure enough, he had been woken by the puppy.
Last night, it had still been a wilted little ball. Now, it could already lively and energetically paw at the edge of his bed. Jiang Qingyu climbed up in a daze and took a look. Sure enough, it had taken care of some physiological needs.
Very smart. Everything was on the pee pad.
Still sleepy-eyed, he went to turn on the fresh air system, bundled up the pee pad, and threw it into the trash can. The RV was equipped with a garbage disposal system, which was quite convenient.
He pulled open the curtain and looked outside. It was still raining out there. The sky was gloomy, and the fog was heavy. It looked so much like being inside a horror game that it gave him the illusion.
Jiang Qingyu checked the time. A little past nine.
He no longer had time to go online and see whether the zombies had been controlled overnight or if things had gotten more serious. Wearing his slippers, he walked outside and called, “Fu Jingqiu?”
“Mm.” Fu Jingqiu’s voice quickly came. “Awake?”
Jiang Qingyu rubbed his eyes while asking, “Where’s Meimei?”
As soon as his words fell, the sound of little cat paws running across the floor came over. Before Jiang Qingyu could prepare himself, a calico ball flew into his arms.
Jiang Qingyu steadily caught Meimei. “Aiya, so clingy. Where did this little cat come from? So warm and fragrant.” As he spoke, he rubbed his cheek and head against the little cat. “Let me sniff first.”
The puppy was cute, of course, but Meimei had been raised by him personally, so naturally they were closer. Sleeping without her beside him at night had made him miss her a little.
Fortunately, Meimei was very generous. She did not mind Jiang Qingyu spending the night with the black-and-white ball. As soon as Jiang Qingyu held her, she seemed to instinctively rub her head against him.
When Fu Jingqiu came out of the driver’s cabin, what he saw was Jiang Qingyu holding Meimei and frantically sniffing her. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Actually, you can put the puppy in the living room.”
Now that the puppy’s problem had been solved, Jiang Qingyu waved his hand grandly. “Sure. Then you take the child.”
Fu Jingqiu: ?
Holding Meimei like a child, Jiang Qingyu shared with him, “This puppy is super obedient. It didn’t bark randomly at night. When I slept, it slept too. It knew it didn’t have permission, so it didn’t jump onto the bed. I laid out a pee pad for it, and it took care of things by itself.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Border collies are very smart, but you still have to teach them properly.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “Of course.”
After eating, he planned to go online and collect information to organize a guidebook for raising puppies, to see what special points needed attention and any little tricks.
When he first raised Meimei, he had done a lot of homework too. Now, he was about to become a studious parent all over again.
The two parents exchanged information for a while. After he finished sharing the puppy’s situation, he started asking about how Meimei had been last night, whether she had slept with Fu Jingqiu, whether she had slept soundly, and whether she had secretly gone to scratch at the door in the night. He looked exactly like a worried old father.
Fu Jingqiu held back a laugh. “Meimei was very good. At night, she slept curled up above my head and didn’t scratch at the door.”
Jiang Qingyu hugged the little cat and hummed at her again. “Such a good baby? I’ll reward you with something delicious today.”
Probably realizing that it was being ignored, the puppy had run out of its nest at some point and began circling around Jiang Qingyu’s legs, whining softly. Its intention of wanting to be held was very clear.
“?” Fu Jingqiu took the initiative to bend down and pick up the puppy, reaching out to touch its hind leg with a puzzled expression.
Jiang Qingyu had already expected this scene and had prepared the corresponding excuse. With a calm face and steady heart, he said, “Last night, it rubbed off the thing you wrapped around it. I didn’t know how to fix it, so I came out to find you.”
Fu Jingqiu touched it again. “…Something’s not quite right.”
Jiang Qingyu played dumb. “What’s wrong?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Its leg seems to have healed.”
