Chapter 10: Why Bother Arguing After Already Sleeping Together?

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Xu Tanxi was rendered speechless. “Th-then I can’t exactly climb onto the dog, can I?”

Shang Hejing remained unmoved, apparently still holding a grudge over the fact that she had suddenly thrown her arms around him.

Xu Tanxi grumbled inwardly: Is this guy for real? We’ve already slept together, and he’s still hung up on things like this.

Naturally, she didn’t dare say it aloud. She was afraid he would simply dump her beside the dog.

Shang Hejing looked at her with a cold laugh. “When you were spreading rumors to Shang Yuqing that I was impotent, you seemed pretty bold.”

Xu Tanxi: “...How did you know? Did you hear us back then?”

“I didn’t. I asked Shang Yuqing on WeChat on the way here.”

Right, so she had been sold out just like that. Still, she couldn’t blame the girl. Having a brother with such an icy demeanor, it was understandable that she would be frightened.

Xu Tanxi released her arms from around Shang Hejing’s neck, pressed her palms together, and began putting on an utterly sincere, pitiful expression.

“I’m sorry, Big Brother. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have slandered your reputation. This is your beloved dog, and I have no right to drive it away. I know that. All you have to do is carry me upstairs. It can stay here and play, all right? Please.”

It was such a reasonable request that Xu Tanxi felt he had no grounds to refuse.

“No.”

“...”

Those two airy syllables shattered her hopes.

“Then what exactly do you want?”

“Let’s just keep things as they are. This is quite nice.”

With that, Shang Hejing supported her and strolled toward the sofa as though nothing unusual were happening.

Xu Tanxi: “!”

He was holding her by the butt. So who, exactly, was the one being indecent here?

“Shang Hejing!” Xu Tanxi shouted, both exasperated and furious.

The man remained expressionless. “We’re this close together, and my hearing is perfectly fine. There’s no need to speak so loudly.”

“Put me down!”

Shang Hejing raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

At the thought of the Beauceron, whose shoulder height appeared to exceed sixty centimeters, Xu Tanxi fell silent.

When one is beneath another’s roof, one has no choice but to bow one’s head. She didn’t dare touch the ground and could only compromise.

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“You don’t have to put me down, but please take your paw off my butt.” This concerned her dignity.

Shang Hejing’s face was close enough to touch. He curled his lips in a mocking smile. “We’ve already slept together, and you’re still hung up on things like this?”

Xu Tanxi: “...”

Those words sounded oddly familiar. Could this shameless bastard actually read minds?

As Shang Hejing passed the Beauceron, he casually freed one hand to stroke the dog’s head.

The Beauceron crouched halfway, its two front legs set slightly apart, and looked up at them. Its clear eyes were full of curiosity. It even gave a tiny little bark.

“See that? King is saying hello to you. He lowered his volume so he wouldn’t frighten you.”

Xu Tanxi turned to look at the Beauceron and only then noticed how formidable and handsome it was. It had drooping ears, a broad head, a relatively long muzzle, and a black nose. Its snout bore tan markings, while the fur below its legs was reddish brown.

The coloring seemed vaguely familiar, but her nervousness and fear had taken over, leaving her no attention to spare for the thought.

Perhaps sensing her fear, the Beauceron truly did not become as agitated as it had earlier.

“Is King its name?”

“Mm.”

“What breed is it? I’ve never seen one before.”

“A Beauceron sheepdog. They’re primarily bred in France and are also called French wolfhounds, though people generally avoid that name. The translation is controversial because, unlike other breeds whose official names include ‘wolfhound,’ Beaucerons aren’t mixed with wolf blood.”

After speaking, Shang Hejing paused, his meaningful gaze settling on her face.

“I went to France this time because I was taking him back to his breeding grounds for a visit. You could call it a family reunion. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have run into each other in Paris.”

At the mention of Paris, Xu Tanxi’s expression grew slightly unnatural.

Who had asked him?

Still, now that she thought about it, taking a dog home for a family visit did make him seem rather humane.

Hearing his master introduce him, King happily tilted his head toward Xu Tanxi and stuck out his tongue. She was suddenly overwhelmed by how adorable he was.

“He looks a little like a Doberman, though he’s much sturdier.”

“Woof.”

King’s tongue instantly disappeared, and this bark was just a little louder than the last. If one listened carefully, there was even a hint of displeasure in it.

Shang Hejing glanced sideways at King. “You said he looks like a Doberman. He’s offended.”

Xu Tanxi cooperated at once. She raised a finger to her lips and made a zipping motion toward King.

“Sorry, I take that back, okay?”

Then she lowered her voice and asked Shang Hejing, “Why would he be unhappy about being compared to a Doberman?”

“Because genetically speaking, the Beauceron is one of the Doberman’s ancestors. So the Doberman resembles him, not the other way around. Saying that he looks like a Doberman is putting things completely backward.”

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Xu Tanxi nodded in understanding. “I see. I learned something new. I won’t say that in front of him again.”

“Mm.”

They continued their little exchange, one sentence at a time, until Xu Tanxi suddenly realized something: hadn’t the atmosphere between her and Shang Hejing become strangely harmonious?

Shang Hejing supported her with his left arm while holding a glass of water in his right, drinking with an unchanged expression.

From the moment she had climbed onto him until now, it had to have been ten minutes at least, hadn’t it?

Honestly... his arm strength was astonishing.

The posture and the surroundings brought Paris that night irresistibly to Xu Tanxi’s mind. At one point, he had lifted her into his arms in exactly the same way.

Her cheeks suddenly grew hot. Somewhat awkwardly, she turned her head away, creating a little distance between their faces.

Shang Hejing’s dark, heavy gaze swept across her face. “Why is your face so red?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Maybe the air here is bad because no one’s lived here for so long.”

“It was cleaned and aired out only yesterday. The air here can’t possibly be bad.”

Xu Tanxi put on a solemn expression. “Why do you care so much? If I say it’s bad, then it’s bad.”

Shang Hejing raised an eyebrow and accepted her unreasonable declaration without question.

“Hey.” Xu Tanxi punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You can put me down now, right? Or are you planning to carry me upstairs and wash me while I bathe?”

She might have been something of a pervert, but she had said it purely to tease Shang Hejing. There was no other meaning behind it.

Shang Hejing frowned, instantly wary. “You want to watch me bathe? Dream on.”

Xu Tanxi: “...Get lost.”

Shang Hejing glanced at King and asked her, “What? You’re not afraid anymore?”

“You won’t put me down, and you won’t carry me upstairs. What else can I do? I can’t exactly stay off the ground forever, can I? Besides, I’m not actually afraid of dogs. I just have a bit of a psychological scar when it comes to large breeds. Maybe it would be better if I took the initiative to get acquainted with him.”

Xu Tanxi was the type to face difficulties head-on. As far as she was concerned, there was no psychological barrier she couldn’t overcome.

Besides, for some reason, she had a feeling that Shang Hejing was telling the truth. King was friendly and wouldn’t hurt her.

Shang Hejing set her down, and she walked over and crouched a meter away from King.

King met her gaze. His half-crouched position immediately changed into a lying posture.

Xu Tanxi turned her head and asked, “What does that mean?”