“Wait in the living room for a bit. He hasn’t woken up yet, still sleeping.”
“Still sleeping? What time is it?” The woman widened her eyes in disbelief. At this hour, people should already be at work; even a pig should have gotten up to eat by now. And yet he’s still sleeping? But looking at Gu Qingyuan’s expression, she swallowed her words and didn’t continue.
Gu Qingyuan watched her for a moment, then still added an explanation for the little thing: “His health is poor, so he needs rest. Besides, last night I kept him up playing games for the whole evening.”
“Uh… okay, I have no problem with that.” She waved her hand, inwardly grumbling. What problem could she have? What right did she have to complain? Anyway, it was their body, they could do whatever they wanted. It had nothing to do with her. She didn’t care, really didn’t care. It was just a little bit of time wasted, no big deal, no big deal.
Yet her heart was bleeding. The time she wasted here could have earned her a thousand or two thousand. That was real money, not some scrap paper! In this life, only money was truly good to her. If she didn’t try to earn more, wouldn’t that be unfair to the money?
Gu Qingyuan seemed to read her thoughts and couldn’t help adding: “Double the pay!”
The woman’s smile bloomed again. This time she truly didn’t care. Sleep, sleep as much as you want, the more the better—that way she could earn more. After all, rich people’s money wasn’t really money—it was the symbol of their love! And spending that symbol on her, the witness, was the most valuable choice. She would absolutely guarantee it was worth every penny! Hopefully today they would break new records and she’d rake in a cool million!
When Su Ling woke up, it was almost noon. He rubbed his aching head and forced himself to sit up. The room was empty; he didn’t know where his master had gone. A hollow feeling crept into his heart. He looked out the window—sunlight streamed in brightly. Suddenly he wanted to go outside. On days like this, he used to love going out to play. Sister would always…
Su Ling bit his lip and shook his head. Why was he thinking about her again? He shouldn’t. He climbed off the bed to find his master, but he only had one leg. The moment his foot touched the floor, he let go of the bed to support himself against the wall. But as he turned, his foot slipped, and his body spun, falling toward the ground. His hands flailed, grasping at nothing. He could only watch himself fall. He closed his eyes, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too much when he hit.
But the expected pain never came. Instead, his head landed on something soft. He opened his eyes and saw his master.
“Are you okay?” Gu Qingyuan smiled at him, her voice gentle.
Su Ling shook his head and returned a happy smile to his master.
“Silly. You still know how to smile. Lucky I was here this time. Next time you fall, what will you do?” Su Ling scratched his head sheepishly.
Gu Qingyuan stared intently at Su Ling, watching the little fellow’s eyes full of her reflection. Her heart felt immensely satisfied. “Come on, let’s eat. Also, I called a doctor today. After we eat, I’ll have him check you out. Tomorrow I also hired a sign language teacher. This time you need to study hard, understand?”
Su Ling nodded. The unease in his heart was gradually dispelled by his master’s love. She was so good to him—he had to be more obedient. Like, no more thinking about his sister! He didn’t want her anymore. Now he only needed his master!
Su Ling was carried to the table and placed on a chair. The woman sitting across from him twitched her lips. Was Gu Qingyuan spoiling this little fellow way too much? Letting him sit at the table to eat? She glanced at the dish beside Su Ling’s bottom and silently decided she would definitely eat plenty of that dish!
After adjusting her chair, Gu Qingyuan picked up her little thing and settled him in her lap. Completely ignoring the woman, she picked up food and began feeding him! The woman took a deep breath. For money, she would swallow this dog food!
Su Ling’s face flushed bright red. He wanted to remind his master that there was an outsider present, but watching her seriously pick dishes for him, he didn’t want to interrupt. Life was so happy now. He only hoped this happiness would last forever, unbroken.
After the meal, Gu Qingyuan finally let go of the little thing and quickly cleaned up the dishes. Once done, she waved at the woman. “Come here. Take a look at him.”
The woman shrugged helplessly and hurried over. “It’s not like I can just look and know. I need equipment to run tests. First, draw some blood, then I’ll take it back for analysis.”
Gu Qingyuan frowned. She had thought bringing the woman here would solve the little thing’s half-beast problem. “That troublesome? Fine, examine him first. Also, do you know any doctor experienced with treating throats?”
The woman became serious at this. At first, Gu Qingyuan didn’t react. After a moment, seeing the woman still frowning in thought, she suddenly caught on and couldn’t help but twitch her lips. She raised one finger. The woman’s eyelid twitched, but she pretended not to see, still deep in thought.
Gu Qingyuan’s eyes darkened. Slowly, she stretched out five fingers. The woman glanced at them, and finally a smile broke out on her face.
“Ahem, actually, I do know someone. But you’ll need to give me some time to invite him over. He had a psychological trauma before and doesn’t like going out. He hasn’t worked in a long time. But rest assured, he’s top-tier in this field. Even without recent work, he still has plenty of experience.”
“Fine!” Gu Qingyuan nodded, then waved her hand in disgust, signaling the woman to finish up and leave. She didn’t want to see her anymore.
The woman took the hint and opened the equipment she’d brought. Su Ling had been watching them in confusion, but soon saw the woman approaching with a syringe step by step. Instinctively, he shrank back, his eyes pitifully turning to his master. But unfortunately, he sought help from the wrong person.
Gu Qingyuan did come over—to hold him down. “Don’t be scared. It’s just a blood draw. Nothing will happen. Relax, okay?”
Su Ling pursed his lips, eyes glistening with tears as he stared at his master. Gu Qingyuan’s heart clenched. Seeing the little thing like this, she almost couldn’t bear it. Maybe forget it? But she quickly snapped out of his attack. This blood had to be drawn. Not for any other reason—just for the little thing’s own health, it had to be done!
With that thought, she pressed down harder on his hand, but not too hard—just enough to hold him in place so he couldn’t run. Still, that alone didn’t reassure her. She leaned down, bringing her lips close to his ear, and whispered in a voice only he could hear: “Little thing, don’t think about escaping. You know I hate running away the most. You don’t want to make your master angry, do you?”
Su Ling’s heart tightened. He didn’t want to anger his master, but he wasn’t trying to run—he was just scared of needles. He couldn’t explain, so all he could do was stare at his master with nothing but grievance in his eyes.
Seeing him like that, an idea suddenly struck Gu Qingyuan. “Little thing, I have a way to make you feel no pain during the draw. Want to try?”
Without a second thought, Su Ling nodded, his eyes full of expectation. Gu Qingyuan’s lips curled upward. Su Ling froze. Why did his master’s smile seem… off? Like she was plotting something mischievous? The thought had barely surfaced when he dismissed it. How could his master have any bad intentions? She wouldn’t, right?
Looking at her smile, he started to feel less confident. The next moment, his ominous feeling seemed to come true! Because his master grabbed his tail. The sensation from his tail instantly flushed his little face crimson. He reached out and grabbed his master’s hand, pleading with his eyes.
“Little thing, I’m helping you. Be good and let go. Only this way will the needle not hurt.”
Su Ling desperately wanted to say that he’d rather take the needle than this, but seeing his master’s gaze, he obediently let go.
The woman, holding the syringe in her right hand, stared at the scene with her mouth agape. Was this going to escalate right in front of her? This… this… this was too exciting!
Gu Qingyuan raised her head and gave her a cold glance. “What are you standing there for? Come over and do the draw!”
The woman snapped out of it and reluctantly walked over. It seemed she wasn’t lucky enough to watch a live show. She looked at Su Ling, whose eyes had grown hazy and whose little hands clutched helplessly at Gu Qingyuan’s clothes. Sighing, she grabbed Su Ling’s arm and pierced the needle straight into a clear vein! Completely lost in the moment, Su Ling only blinked and had no further reaction.
Once the blood was drawn, Gu Qingyuan eagerly waved her hand to signal the woman to leave immediately. The woman pouted, packed up her things, cast one last reluctant glance at Su Ling, and turned to go. The little thing’s current appearance was far too tempting—she wanted to take a few photos to admire later, but that was impossible! Now she just wanted to hurry home and hug her money to comfort herself.