A familiar laugh suddenly rang out above her head.
Ji Zhaoxi looked up, her eyes stung by the sunlight, and she couldn't help but raise a hand to shield them.
Xie Sili stood in front of her, blocking the glare. He gave a soft chuckle. "What a coincidence."
"Xie Sili?" Ji Zhaoxi looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Xie Sili's smile was a bit forced as he glanced at the silly dog digging at the ground next to him. "My family forced me to come out and walk the dog."
Leiting was lying lazily on the ground with its eyes closed, its long fur blending in with the grass.
Ji Zhaoxi felt an itch in her heart. She looked at Xie Sili expectantly. "Can I pet him?"
Xie Sili met her gaze and froze for a moment. His hand rubbed against the leash as he looked away from her.
"You can."
Ji Zhaoxi's eyes lit up, and she tentatively reached out to pat Leiting's big head.
Leiting opened its eyes and glanced at her. It sluggishly got to its feet, wobbled over to Ji Zhaoxi, and shoved its head into her arms, wagging its tail happily.
Ji Zhaoxi was silently shedding tears of joy in her heart. To think there was actually a dog willing to approach her on its own—she felt like she had truly made it in life.
Leiting looked quite intimidating, but it absolutely loved to act spoiled. Ji Zhaoxi hugged it carefully, overjoyed.
"Xie Sili, he's letting me hug him!"
A hint of a smile flashed in Xie Sili's eyes. "It seems Leiting really likes you."
The Ji Zhaoxi outside of school was very different from the Ji Zhaoxi in school.
At school, Ji Zhaoxi often wore a jacket with her soft hair draped over her shoulders. Whenever she lowered her head slightly, her hair would cover the side of her face, and she often used this method to avoid interacting with others.
She smiled even less, often shrouded in a lingering layer of gloom.
"Leiting, you're so huge!"
Ji Zhaoxi was nuzzled so much that tears formed in her eyes. The corners of her eyes curved downwards, filled with mirth. She couldn't help but laugh out loud, continuously stroking Leiting's furry head.
Xie Sili awkwardly shifted his gaze away, looking at the grass to the side.
That silly dog was still acting spoiled with her. Feeling a bit displeased, Xie Sili couldn't help but speak up. "Leiting, stop that."
Scolded, Leiting's tail dropped instantly. Whimpering continuously, it buried itself in Ji Zhaoxi's arms and stopped moving.
Xie Sili: ...
He shouldn't have brought this silly dog along.
Leiting let out wronged whines. When had Ji Zhaoxi ever been so relied upon by an animal? Her heart instantly ached for it, and she planted a kiss on its furry head.
"Such a poor little pup."
Seeing that someone was coaxing it, Leiting whined even louder. Those who didn't know better would think it had suffered some massive injustice.
Xie Sili's face darkened completely.
Beside them, Ji Dadan, who had been licking its fur the whole time, grew extremely annoyed by Leiting's whining. With a meow, it delivered a slap to the dog.
Terrified, Leiting immediately shut its mouth, only staring pitifully at Ji Zhaoxi.
"Ji Dadan! You're bullying others again!"
Angry, Ji Zhaoxi hugged Ji Dadan tightly and rubbed it vigorously a few times.
Ji Dadan struggled desperately to break free from Ji Zhaoxi's embrace and jumped into Xie Sili's arms.
Xie Sili looked down at the cat in his arms and gently scratched its chin.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at the dogs playing together not far away and felt a bit tempted.
"Xie Sili, can I take Leiting over there to play?"
Xie Sili gave a soft chuckle and nodded.
Leiting let out a happy whine and ran off towards the other side with Ji Zhaoxi.
Ji Dadan lay on the grass, gently nibbling on Xie Sili's hand. Xie Sili pinched its ear, his tone carrying a smile. "So your name is Ji Dadan now."
The first time Xie Sili saw Ji Zhaoxi was on an afternoon during their second year of middle school.
At the time, she was standing helplessly next to a small dog, tears in her eyes, arguing about something with a man opposite her.
The man was a bit guilty at first, but upon seeing that Ji Zhaoxi was just a student, he didn't bother wasting words on her. He simply drove off, leaving behind the small dog he had hit and injured on the ground.
The puppy was severely injured, with one leg bleeding profusely. Ji Zhaoxi wanted to pick it up, but the puppy tried to bite her. She was both frightened and anxious.
No matter how she approached the puppy, it remained terrified of her, crawling in the opposite direction the moment it saw her.
Xie Sili quietly watched the scene unfold downstairs. If it were him, he would have left by now.
Left with no other choice, Ji Zhaoxi took off her school uniform jacket and, amidst the puppy's terrified barks, carefully wrapped it up.
She was both scared and sad, looking incredibly wronged.
"This dog is so stupid. It doesn't even know that girl is trying to save it."
"Shiyi, look, that puppy jumped down again."
"You girls are just too soft-hearted. That man should have been the one to take this dog to the hospital."
Amidst the continuous chatter around him, Xie Sili withdrew his gaze, not taking the matter to heart.
Yet, for reasons unknown even to himself, he always remembered that scene, even though it was such an ordinary occurrence.
So when he saw Ji Zhaoxi at A High School, he recognized her at a glance.
She looked no different from back then, but her eyes held a bit more sorrow.
It was also at this time that Xie Sili realized Ji Zhaoxi might not be very well-liked by small animals.
There were many cats at A High School, and he would occasionally see Ji Zhaoxi secretly trying to play with them. However, no cat ever approached her, no matter how she tried to lure them with cat treats.
This tuxedo cat had jumped into his house on its own. It made itself right at home, snatching Leiting's food and meowing at the members of the Xie family. It seemed capable of chatting extensively with anyone, even though no one could understand cat language.
Thus, Xie Sili conceived the idea of giving this cat to Ji Zhaoxi.
Before doing so, he conducted multiple rounds of experiments. Only after confirming that this tuxedo cat treated everyone with the exact same attitude did he finally feel reassured.
He wanted to find Ji Zhaoxi to discuss this matter, but she kept avoiding him. She seemed to always have an endless list of things to do, busy every single day.
Therefore, on a rainy day, he placed this tuxedo cat on the path she had to take.
Because Ji Dadan's appearance was too enticing, someone wanted to take it home the moment he set it down, forcing Xie Sili to explain the situation to them.
After explaining things over a dozen times, Ji Dadan couldn't sit still either, making a fuss about wanting to get out. Xie Sili had to feed it quite a few freeze-dried treats to quiet it down.
"Be good and wait here for her to come."
Finally, Ji Zhaoxi's figure appeared in the alley. She was holding an umbrella, her eyes filled with excitement.
She tentatively approached Ji Dadan. Ji Dadan meowed at her a few times, and just like that, Ji Zhaoxi took Ji Dadan home, box and all.
At the time, Xie Sili wasn't sure why he did such a thing.
He still wasn't very sure now.
Perhaps he just felt that such a disappointed expression didn't belong on her face.
