Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The puppy backed away from the bowl, creating distance as if to disclaim any involvement, completely oblivious that the fur around its mouth had transformed from black to white.

The soft, fluffy puppy's every move was utterly endearing. Cheng Zhiyu let out a soft chuckle, grabbed a long tissue, and, cradling the puppy's tiny face, gently wiped away the milk stains from its muzzle.

"Good job, you finished the whole bowl of milk," Cheng Zhiyu praised, stroking the puppy's belly. "Let me see if you're full~"

The puppy stiffened, frantically trying to evade Cheng Zhiyu's hand, but it was too late; its belly was already being touched.

This human! What a scoundrel! The skin beneath the puppy's fur was already burning with indignation.

Cheng Zhiyu mused, "Why isn't your belly bulging at all? You drank so much."

Puppy: So much? It was barely a drop in the bucket.

Although the puppy's belly didn't feel distended, Cheng Zhiyu didn't dare feed it more. Puppies don't know when they're full, and overfeeding could be detrimental. He could always offer a little more later.

Just as he was contemplating this, the puppy tapped his ankle with its paw.

Cheng Zhiyu noticed that the puppy he had rescued was remarkably intelligent. Curious, he asked, "What's wrong?"

The puppy had made up its mind: delicious food had to be earned. The small amount of milk it had just consumed was utterly insufficient.

Ensuring Cheng Zhiyu was watching, it waddled on its short legs toward the kitchen. After a few steps, it glanced back to confirm Cheng Zhiyu was following before continuing further inside.

It then stopped in front of the pot and, under Cheng Zhiyu's astonished gaze, pointed at the pot containing the tomato beef.

I want to eat this.

Cheng Zhiyu was amazed by the puppy's intelligence and immediately grasped its meaning. So that was it—before he had prepared the milk, the puppy had been following him, but once the milk was ready, it had refused to drink.

It turned out the puppy wanted beef all along.

However, Cheng Zhiyu looked at the tiny puppy and sighed. If only it were a bit bigger. He crouched down apologetically. "No, you're still too small. Your teeth aren't developed yet—you won't be able to chew it."

The puppy glared at Cheng Zhiyu: Nonsense! Our Winged Tribe possesses the sharpest teeth in the world! How could I not be able to eat a tiny piece of meat?

This was clearly just an excuse from this human. All he needed to do was prove himself...

Then, Cheng Zhiyu watched as the puppy suddenly lunged at a nearby cabinet and bit down hard on the cabinet door.

Cheng Zhiyu: "!!!"

Before he could react, he watched in horror as the puppy bit down. He gasped and quickly picked up the puppy, prying its mouth open to inspect. "Sweetheart, are you so famished you've lost your mind? Let me see if your teeth are broken."

The one-month-old puppy had only tiny, rice-grain-sized teeth. Thankfully, they were still intact and unharmed.

While Cheng Zhiyu was anxiously checking, he had no idea that the puppy was stunned, eyes wide, upon hearing the word "sweetheart."

What’s wrong with this human? They’d known each other for less than a day, and he was already calling it "sweetheart." So... so unreserved.

The puppy then remembered something and turned to look at the cabinet door it had just bitten. Surely, it must be splintered into pieces by now? But to its surprise, the cabinet door wasn’t shattered—there wasn’t even a tooth mark left.

Puppy: "..."

Perhaps its diminutive size had affected its intelligence. Only now did it recall that, like a newborn, it hadn’t yet developed sharp teeth.

Puppy: Feeling utterly defeated.jpg

And also, a bit embarrassed.

Cheng Zhiyu looked at the suddenly crestfallen puppy with concern. "What's wrong, sweetheart? Does your tooth hurt? You're too small to bite things randomly. Ah, it's my fault for not stopping you sooner."

In reality, although the cabinet door was left without even a scratch, the puppy's teeth didn’t hurt at all. After all, it was from the Winged Tribe—even as a pup, it wasn’t that fragile.

"Sweetheart?" Cheng Zhiyu called out worriedly, seeing the puppy motionless.

The puppy glanced at Cheng Zhiyu and slowly walked to the corner. ...Let me be alone for a bit.

Cheng Zhiyu: "?" He seemed to understand why the puppy was so down. He could almost feel the palpable sense of resentment emanating from it.

"Ahem... it's actually quite cute," Cheng Zhiyu said, trying hard to suppress a laugh and speaking honestly.

The puppy gave Cheng Zhiyu a gloomy look.

Cheng Zhiyu cleared his throat. "Well, how about I give you a name?"

He thought for a moment, looking at the puppy's pure black fur. After pondering for a while, he finally said, "Let's call you... Little Black."

Puppy: Objection!

"Little Black~" Cheng Zhiyu was clearly very pleased with the name he had chosen. He called out happily a few times. Seeing that Little Black didn’t react, he didn’t think much of it. Little Black had just learned its name and needed some time to adjust.

Little Black still hadn’t snapped out of its sulk. While Cheng Zhiyu was busy, it sat by the window, staring outside gloomily.

It was so small that it had to strain its neck to see outside... making it even more dejected.

Cheng Zhiyu had no idea how a one-month-old puppy could harbor so many emotions. Helpless, he decided to let it be.

By evening, Cheng Zhiyu reheated the tomato beef and brought it out to eat.

He prepared a bowl of warmed-up milk for Little Black, and this time, it didn’t refuse—it drank every last drop.

After finishing the milk, Little Black glanced at the delicious food in Cheng Zhiyu’s bowl. How infuriating!

It kept staring at Cheng Zhiyu, who, perhaps finding the food too hot, placed the bowl on the coffee table and went back to the kitchen.

Little Black watched him leave, then padded over to the coffee table. The coffee table wasn’t very high—lower than the dining table—and there was a small stool nearby.

In the kitchen, Cheng Zhiyu was rinsing the pot while waiting for the food to cool down when he suddenly heard a loud crash from outside.

Startled and worried that something might have happened to the puppy, he didn’t even bother to dry his hands and rushed out to see what was going on.

What he saw completely surprised him. The stool was toppled over, lying askew on the floor, and the culprit, Little Black, was standing on the coffee table with its entire head buried in the bowl.

Cheng Zhiyu: "!!!"

He never expected that Little Black, who had been so well-behaved tonight and finished all its milk, was still fixated on eating meat.

And how did such a tiny puppy manage to jump onto the coffee table?!

Cheng Zhiyu felt like he had picked up a miraculous puppy. Worried that Little Black might have eaten something harmful, he quickly walked over and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.

Little Black seemed to have adopted a "nothing left to lose" attitude. Since it had already been caught red-handed, it might as well take the opportunity to gulp down one more big mouthful.

Cheng Zhiyu looked at Little Black, its mouth stuffed: "..."

He sighed, both helpless and anxious. "Spit that out. How old are you? Can your stomach even handle meat?"

Not to mention, there were many spices and seasonings in it. Even though he had never raised a dog, he knew dogs shouldn’t eat food with seasonings.

However, Little Black just gave him a side-eye, calmly swallowed the meat in its mouth, and even took another look at the bowl: Tasty. More please.

Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

Only then did he realize that, despite Little Black’s small size, in just a short while, a whole bowl of meat had only half left.

Cheng Zhiyu closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down, then put Little Black down and carefully checked its belly.

Strange, even after eating so much meat, its belly wasn’t even that round.

After being put down, Little Black stretched lazily. Though not yet full, it was in a good mood after enjoying the human’s cooking.

Seeing Little Black’s unrepentant look, Cheng Zhiyu poked its head and said, "You, you... you’ll be crying when you feel sick."

Little Black: Laughable. Just some meat? How could it make a proud Winged Tribe member uncomfortable?

Cheng Zhiyu decided to give him a good talking-to. Seeing Little Black about to leave, he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, made him face him, and began lecturing like a nagging parent: "Little Black, you can’t keep doing this, understand? You scared me. How can you eat like this when you’re only a month old? There aren’t even any pet hospitals around—I can’t take you to see a vet even if I wanted to. Just look at you..."

Little Black lowered its head and covered its ears with its paws.

Not listening.

Really, Cheng Zhiyu was so angry he almost laughed. But what could he do? He could only scold Little Black for a while and let it go for now.

He would have to pay more attention to Little Black’s condition from now on.

Then, Cheng Zhiyu looked at the remaining half bowl of beef with a conflicted expression. Well... food was so precious now; he really shouldn’t waste it. But it was leftover after Little Black had eaten...

A moment later, he still couldn’t get over the weirdness of it. He stood up and went to the kitchen, planning to whip up something simple for himself.

Fortunately, Little Black hadn’t touched the rice. He could make some fried rice.

Lazing there, Little Black suddenly stiffened, got up, and quickly walked over to Cheng Zhiyu. Cheng Zhiyu noticed him immediately and, forgetting about his meal, hurriedly asked, "What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Little Black pointed stiffly in the direction of the bathroom.

Cheng Zhiyu: "You need to go?"

The bathroom door was closed and needed Cheng Zhiyu to open it.

Cheng Zhiyu couldn’t believe Little Black was this smart. He tentatively opened the door, and Little Black immediately rushed in eagerly.

Whether he believed it or not, Cheng Zhiyu had to accept it. He quickly followed and glanced at the toilet, which was way too high for Little Black. Well... obviously not suitable.

And since when did dogs use toilets? Ha. He walked over to the drain and said, "Just go here. I’ll rinse it with water later."

What kind of wonder dog was Little Black? He even knew to go in the bathroom. Needing only a rinse with water afterward was something he was perfectly fine with.

However, after waiting for a while, Little Black didn't budge and just stared intently at Cheng Zhiyu.

Cheng Zhiyu finally understood: "What, the pup's actually shy?"

Little Black: "..." If only I could talk right now—I’m not a puppy!

Cheng Zhiyu respectfully preserved Little Black’s dignity, smiling as he left the bathroom and closed the door.

But he didn’t go far; he stayed right outside, mainly worried that something might happen to Little Black alone inside.

A moment later, the door was gently patted. Cheng Zhiyu opened it, ready to clean up, only to find that there was nothing inside.

"Eh? What’s going on?" Cheng Zhiyu checked every corner, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Little Black strutted away calmly on its short legs, though its tail was a bit stiff. It never imagined that one day its Water Power would be used for this.