Chapter 56: A Match Made in Heaven

Fu Rangyi and Zhu Zhixi helped the old lady to the coffee shop on the basement floor of the hospital.

“These are photos and videos of Snowball.” The old lady took out her phone, somewhat clumsily opened the photo album, and showed it to them. Almost more than half of the album was filled with the little white dog.

“That’s him. This blue collar, and this curled-up paw.” Zhu Zhixi confirmed. “Snowball is the little white dog I met that time.”

No wonder. He suddenly remembered that on the night of the first snow, he had insomnia and went down to the public garden to build a snowman. At that time, he accidentally said the words “Snowball,” and it was as if he had sensed something. He froze for a second, and the light of the countdown on his palm also flickered for a moment.

Was it because of the wisp of Snowball’s soul left in his body?

“What a coincidence,” Fu Rangyi said to Zhu Zhixi. “To think that the little dog we’ve been looking for for so long, its owner is actually the old lady you saved on the day of the dinner party.”

However, Zhu Zhixi shook his head. “No, it’s not a coincidence. When I went out that day, I had a vague feeling that something was off. I don’t usually take that road, but that day, for some reason, I chose that one. Then I saw Snowball on the road, which is why I got out of the car and ran after him. After losing him, I got back in the car. As soon as I was back on the road, I ran into you, grandma.”

He looked at the old lady sitting opposite him and said softly, “Perhaps Snowball sensed that you were in danger and guided me to save you.”

It sounded incredibly mystical, but Zhu Zhixi could still recall that fated feeling from back then.

After hearing this, the old lady’s eyes, which were gazing at the poster, couldn’t help but shed tears. She wiped them away and said, “I’ve been looking for him too. Every day when I go downstairs, I walk a few laps around the places where I used to walk him, calling his name as I go. When I watch TV in the living room, I keep it on mute. Even if I hear the slightest noise, I think it’s him coming back.”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi’s heart sank. He had thought that by finding the owner, they would find the dog…

Fu Rangyi frowned and asked, “Did Snowball get lost, or did he run away on his own? Do you remember the approximate time and place?”

The old lady sighed. “Starting from the summer, Snowball ate very little and often slept drowsily. At first, I thought it was because he was old like me. In the winter, he started vomiting frequently, throwing up everything he ate, and panting heavily. I felt something was wrong and took him to the hospital.” She raised her hand, wiped her tears, and continued, “The doctor said it was late-stage malignant cancer.”

Zhu Zhixi suddenly felt very cold. He had taken care of too many animals and had seen too many separations due to illness and injury. The sadness from his memories gradually spread, as if he were being submerged in cold water. If it was late-stage, chemotherapy would be basically ineffective. All they could do was give medication and injections to reduce the pain.

There was no one else in the world who could empathize with Snowball’s feelings at that time, but Zhu Zhixi could. He had once genuinely believed he had a terminal illness and was about to face death. He was so small, panting in pain, and when he saw the countdown appear, knowing he was about to leave his owner, how scared must he have been.

In the silence, a hand reached out from under the table and covered the back of his hand. It was the hand of Snowball’s first “owner.”

The tears he had been holding back finally fell, splashing onto the tabletop.

“I told him at the time that no matter how much it cost, I would get him treated. He couldn’t leave before me.” The old lady shook her head. “The next day, Snowball was gone. I remember it clearly, it was December 7th.”

Zhu Zhixi said in a low voice, “That was the day I returned to the country.” He had met Snowball that night.

Fu Rangyi was silent for a long time before he couldn’t help but say, “He… he was thirteen years old. You raised him very well.”

The old lady didn’t catch the deeper meaning in his words, thinking the young man was comforting her. “I don’t have any children. My husband passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage ten years ago. If I hadn’t found Snowball, I don’t know how I would have gotten through all this time.”

“Found him?” Fu Rangyi frowned.

“Yes,” the old lady recalled the beginning. “I was going downstairs to buy groceries when I found him in the electric scooter shed at the entrance of our community. He was only three months old then, so tiny. He was placed in a foam box, looking so pitiful and cute. I took him home, gave him a bath, and noticed something was wrong with his paw, so I took him to the hospital. The doctor said he might have been hit by an electric scooter and had a fractured front paw. It was so pitiful for him to have surgery at such a young age.”

He asked a few more detailed questions. The time and age matched up. Snowball was indeed the puppy Fu Rangyi had saved back then.

However, after the couple adopted him from the pet shop, they did not raise him well. When he got injured, they chose to abandon him.

Zhu Zhixi quietly looked at Fu Rangyi sitting beside him, catching a glimpse of bewildered helplessness in his brow. In a daze, he even felt that the one sitting next to him was the seventeen-year-old boy in a high school uniform wearing a muzzle.

Is he feeling guilty? Or is he empathizing with this repeated abandonment?

In the end, he never mentioned to Snowball’s owner that he had once found him.

Zhu Zhixi squeezed his hand tightly.

“It’s a good thing he had you,” Zhu Zhixi said to the old lady, and also to Fu Rangyi. “For so many years, Snowball must have been very happy.”

Although the trail went cold again, they obtained a lot of information about Snowball’s habits from the grandma: the park he frequented, his favorite snacks, his favorite toys, and his puppy friends.

They took the grandma home and also took a full box of things related to Snowball from her house.

Seeing the grandma’s expectant yet hesitant expression, Zhu Zhixi said, “We will find a way to find Snowball. You must take care of your health and wait for him to come back, okay?”

When he returned to the car, Fu Rangyi was standing in front of the open trunk. He was clutching a small red woolen jacket, which was clearly hand-knitted with needles. Looking at the puppy’s clothes, Fu Rangyi was quietly lost in thought. A moment later, he raised his hand, lowered his head, and sniffed the scent on it.

Like Zhu Zhixi, the puppy had no pheromones, but they both smelled very good.

They took these things to the stray animal shelter.

Xiao Yu had his hair in a high ponytail this time and looked much better than the last time. Zhu Zhixi noticed this and smiled as soon as he entered. “Your new hairstyle looks great.”

Xiao Yu also smiled, but he said that his powers and memories had not yet fully recovered.

Everyone sat down. After some explanation, Xiao Yu picked up Snowball’s daily necessities from the box one by one, sensing its aura.

“He ran away from home on purpose, and he was very panicked before he left.” Xiao Yu tried to sense Snowball’s emotions at the time through the residual scent on these items to find clues. “He didn’t want his owner to spend a lot of money on his treatment. The owner’s health was also not good, and she often went to the hospital. He always waited at home for the owner to come back from her appointments.”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi’s heart broke.

“I think your countdown mechanism is too cruel,” he couldn’t help but speak up for the small animals. “What do puppies know? Why give them a heads-up? I’d rather they didn’t know anything and were happy until the very last day. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Xiao Yu was also silent. “…It wasn’t my idea. I’m just an enforcer.” He paused, then said, “But I can also understand. Maybe for humans, 60 days is just two months, a very short time, but when converted to a dog’s lifespan, it’s almost eight or nine years. This amount of time is enough for them to make many preparations and fulfill many of their wishes.”

Xiao Yu sighed and added, “But I never expected that the first reaction of most puppies upon seeing the countdown is to want to leave, not wanting to pass away in front of their owners.”

Zhu Zhixi pouted. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have blamed you. I should be scolding your leaders.”

Xiao Yu: “…”

“Since Snowball ran away from home on purpose, it’s probably very difficult to see him appear voluntarily,” Liang Yi’en had been thinking. “The last time he appeared, it was because he sensed that his owner might have a sudden heart attack and was in danger. He came out at great risk, which shows that he was always thinking about his owner. Maybe he was also secretly following her.”

Fu Rangyi asked, “You mean, if we follow the old lady, we might still find him?”

Xiao Yu said, “It’s too conspicuous for a person to follow. It might even scare the old lady. During this time, I can take on an animal form, follow the grandma, and keep an eye out for you.”

Liang Yi’en added, “I’ll take these things to Xiao Hua, Wang Zai, and Qiu Qiu for them to smell. These few like to run around outside the most. Maybe they can help.”

After dividing the tasks, they planned to leave. Liang Yi’en saw them out and also quietly asked Zhu Zhixi, “How much time is left on the countdown?”

Hearing this question, Zhu Zhixi didn’t dare to answer directly, because the numbers he gave Fu Rangyi every day were falsified. He now understood the people who cooked the books.

So he leaned close to Liang Yi’en’s ear and whispered the real number. “27 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, 21 seconds.”

Liang Yi’en frowned upon hearing this, very worried. “Why is it going so fast? Is Professor Fu not doing his job?”

Zhu Zhixi quickly covered his mouth and lowered his voice. “How can you say something like that?”

What do you mean not doing his job? He’s almost thirty and can still cause secondary development. He’s doing an amazing job.

The two were acting suspiciously, being close and whispering. The two spirits behind them had been observing for a long time, accumulating a deep resentment.

“Don’t you tell Professor Fu, I…” Zhu Zhixi was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He turned his head and saw Xiao Yu.

“You scared me.” Zhu Zhixi guiltily withdrew his hand, smiled, and tried to make small talk. “Um, Xiao Yu, your hair is really nice, so long and white. Who tied that high ponytail for you? Was it Xiao En? He even knows how to braid. Next time, have him give you some West Coast dreadlocks…”

Before he could finish, Fu Rangyi stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and said, “Let’s go home.”

“Okay, husband.”

On the way back, Zhu Zhixi was still clutching his palm, worried. Liang Yi’en’s feeling was not wrong. At first, just holding hands could pause the countdown. Now, even kissing couldn’t stop it for long. The effectiveness of physical contact was repeatedly diminishing.

And to make matters worse, it coincided with his developmental period, so they couldn’t do anything more intimate for a week. In three more days, Fu Rangyi had to go on a business trip. It was like adding frost to snow. He didn’t even dare to think about how panicked he would be during the few days Fu Rangyi was away.

He looked at Fu Rangyi and let out a long sigh.

“What are you sighing for?” The car had just parked in the garage. Fu Rangyi turned his face and stared at him.

Zhu Zhixi shook his head. “Nothing.” How can I tell you this? Your short-lived wife is also in a difficult position.

Moreover, he could feel that the impact of this day was also huge for Fu Rangyi. First, the sudden secondary development, then meeting Snowball’s owner. He must be nervous and disappointed, and his mood must be quite complicated right now. Zhu Zhixi didn’t want to add to his pressure, so for a rare change, he didn’t bother him, planning to let him have some quiet time.

The two silently got out of the car, silently entered the elevator, pressed the button, went up, opened the door, and went home.

Fu Rangyi used his fingerprint to unlock the door and said as he opened it, “You said the lock at home was broken last time.”

Zhu Zhixi recalled, “Yes, that did happen, but it was fine later.”

Fu Rangyi changed his shoes and, out of habit, also took out Zhu Zhixi’s slippers and arranged them neatly. But he seemed to regret this habitual action, thought about taking them back, paused, and then gave up.

He continued, “A door lock is a big deal. I contacted the lock company, and they said the electronic core might be damaged. I applied for a replacement, but it’s out of stock right now. They’ll come to fix it when it arrives. I might not be around then, so keep it in mind.”

Zhu Zhixi sat on the small stool, untying the laces of his canvas shoes. “Oh,” he said, “Got it.”

Fu Rangyi silently took off his coat and hung it up. He was about to leave, but then he turned back, stood there with his arms crossed, and silently waited for Zhu Zhixi to change his shoes.

When Zhu Zhixi stood up, he found Fu Rangyi staring straight at him. His handsome face was buried in the shadow of the backlight, looking rather creepy.

“What’s wrong?” Zhu Zhixi moved a little closer, looking up at his eyes.

Why does he seem unhappy? Who annoyed him again? Zhu Zhixi studied him, his gaze restlessly drifting down from his handsome face to his collarbones, and then further down, to his chest.

Another one of those seductive high-neck knit sweaters, and in white. Was it the influence of the pheromones, or the hormones of his developmental period? He seemed to have become clingier than before.

“Oh, your shirt is pilling.” Zhu Zhixi reached out, plucked at a non-existent fuzzball, and took the opportunity to grope him.

Fu Rangyi: “…”

Having felt him, Zhu Zhixi was very satisfied and said with a grin, “Professor Fu, you have to be a little on guard when you’re out. You can’t be taken advantage of so easily like just now, you know?”

Fu Rangyi, with his head slightly bowed, remained silent.

“Why are you ignoring me? Are you still holding a grudge about ‘I’m not talking to you anymore’ from last night? You hold a grudge.” As Zhu Zhixi spoke, he stood on his tiptoes, leaned in, and kissed his lips. He received no response, but no rejection either. He reached out with both hands, climbed onto the back of his neck, and while caressing the gland, his tongue pried open his lips, kissing deeper and stickier.

But as they kissed, Fu Rangyi actually lifted his head. With the height difference, Zhu Zhixi had to stand on his toes even more earnestly, chasing after his kiss. But Fu Rangyi became even more outrageous, even tilting his chin up.

“What are you doing?” Zhu Zhixi’s heel landed on the floor with a thud. For the first time, he realized that every time they kissed, Fu Rangyi had been accommodating him.

It’s not that much of a difference. Just 9 centimeters. I’m almost 180 cm with shoes on. I’m a long-legged Beta too. It’s mainly that a certain someone is too tall.

“Lower your head a little. It’s tiring to kiss,” Zhu Zhixi began his second round of coquetry, as well as his second round of kissing offense. His hands were already in position, ready to grope.

But before he could start, Fu Rangyi picked him up directly and sat him on the entryway cabinet. Zhu Zhixi thought he had stopped being difficult and leaned in for a kiss, but was dodged again.

Fu Rangyi asked with a cold face, “Zhu Zhixi, do you only like long hair?”

Zhu Zhixi was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

He didn’t understand why he was suddenly talking about this. A long-haired dog-like undergraduate was indeed very… pure. Who wouldn’t like that?

Wait, what do you mean “only like”?

Zhu Zhixi’s brain spun rapidly. His emotional intelligence system kicked in. Suddenly, from the massive amount of information from the entire day, he retrieved two key nodes, which occurred when he went to Xiao En’s place and before he left.

He had praised Xiao Yu’s hair, twice.

Zhu Zhixi had a sudden realization. So the doggy doctor was jealous. But how could he be jealous of even Xiao Yu? This possessiveness seemed much more exaggerated than before.

He couldn’t hold back a smile, and the corners of his mouth lifted noticeably. Fu Rangyi, of course, saw this, and his face became even gloomier. He seemed about to turn and leave. But Zhu Zhixi was quick-witted and sharp-eyed. He scooted forward and then jumped onto him like a little flying squirrel.

Fu Rangyi was startled, but he still steadily caught the mischievous rabbit who was throwing himself into his arms, letting him wrap his limbs around his waist like a koala.

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Zhu Zhixi rubbed the bridge of his nose against his, and like last time, tried to push up his glasses with the tip of his nose, but Fu Rangyi lifted his chin, not letting him do so.

So Zhu Zhixi found an opening, directly lowered his head, and kissed his Adam’s apple. Fu Rangyi’s eyelids trembled, and the hand holding the base of his thigh tightened.

“Is it because I praised Xiao Yu’s hairstyle?” Zhu Zhixi pressed closer, looking at him and blinking innocently, his lips brushing against his chin. “That was just a polite compliment. You don’t really think my personal preference is just long hair, do you?”

Fu Rangyi glanced at him and retorted stiffly, “Who’s jealous?”

Zhu Zhixi smiled again and said, “Alright then, you’re not jealous. I’m jealous, okay?”

This self-deprecating move caught Fu Rangyi off guard. He didn’t say anything, a look of confusion in his eyes.

“Do you know why I want to see you with long hair? Because at the dinner party last time, your colleagues were talking about it. Everyone has seen you with long hair, but I haven’t. That’s not fair.”

Zhu Zhixi’s fingers slid and rubbed on the back of his neck, then cupped his face, his fingertips rubbing the gland behind his ear. He didn’t think there was anything special about this action, but strangely, the wristband had already started to glow.

“I also want to know what you were like before, not just you with long hair. I also want to see you in class, not as a teacher, but as a student sitting below, listening. Are you the type who listens very attentively, or are you someone who doesn’t really listen much and learns quickly on your own? I’m really curious. I also want to go to the library with you to borrow books, study together, eat in the cafeteria together, and take a walk on the sports field. It’s a pity I can’t do any of that.”

As he spoke, his lips pressed against his ear, intentionally or not giving it a kiss, his voice trembling slightly. The hot, moist air lingered, every breath brushing past the sensitive gland behind his ear.

“Professor Fu, tell me, what is it that I like?”