Taming the Fierce Hound | Chapter 61 | The Taste of Cheap Sweets | Novela.app

An endless, clear sky stretched overhead; as the wind blew from the horizon, the hint of autumn had already arrived. Zong Yan and Si Jiang walked down the street. It seemed to be the first time they had ever walked outdoors like normal people. There was no tension, no vigilance, and no... leash. Si Jiang had his hands in his pockets, his shoulder close to Zong Yan’s, occasionally feeling the brush of their clothes against each other. He was in a great mood, his steps light, his face even brimming with a smile. Consequently, he drew a high number of glances from passersby. Zong Yan said, "Pay attention to where you're walking." Only then did Si Jiang retract his gaze. He looked boredly at the ground and kicked a pebble. "Oh." He hadn't driven; he didn't want to. Given his recent condition, driving was high-risk to begin with. It was one thing when it was just Chen Bai, but now that his master was a passenger, he couldn't take that risk. Although dying together wouldn't be the worst thing, he couldn't accept any other "what-ifs." Besides, his good days were just beginning; any possibility that might hinder him had to be eliminated as much as possible. Si Jiang rarely went window-shopping, let alone walking side-by-side with someone through a crowded street. In the past, he would drive his sports car directly to his destination, drink and have his fun, and then have a designated driver take him home. Thus, he actually knew very little about the city he had lived in for many years. A giant mascot by the roadside was waving its hands, wobbling unsteadily. The milk tea shop behind it was blasting a brainwashing melody. "You love me, I love you..." Si Jiang’s eyes narrowed as a certain memory flashed through his mind. Zong Yan asked, "Do you want to drink that?" Why was this young master suddenly interested in a budget milk tea shop? Seeing Si Jiang’s burning gaze, she shook her head. "You won't like it." How could someone who had eaten the finest of everything like cheap, industrial-flavored food? Si Jiang looked at her pleadingly. "Master, do they sell those white, triangular, hand-held ice creams here?" Zong Yan felt a bit helpless. "A vanilla cone? Yes." "So that's what it's called," Si Jiang said, looking as if he had just reached a great realization. "The day I returned to the country, I saw... someone who looked a lot like you, eating one of those on the side of the road with a man." Si Jiang stared at the plastic model on the shop’s sign, his gaze darkening. "For a moment, I thought it was you. I truly felt like I wanted to die right then." He had endured so much torment to come back, yet if his master was there flirting with someone else, he would go insane. Zong Yan: "..." For once, she chose silence. Si Jiang acted pitiful. "Master, I want to eat one." "Don't you have a bit of a fever?" "I took medicine. I'll be fine after a nap." Si Jiang looked like he wouldn't let the matter drop. Zong Yan saw him standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking at her longingly, with a conspicuous collar still around his neck... "Hold this for a second." Si Jiang blankly took the backpack Zong Yan handed him and habitually slung it over his shoulder. Zong Yan soon returned, holding a milky-white soft-serve cone. "Here." Si Jiang’s eyes were as bright as the current sky. He suppressed the upward curve of his lips, his hands gripping the backpack straps. He shook his head. "My hands are full." He opened his mouth slightly, his intention more than obvious. Zong Yan sighed softly and raised her hand, watching her pet—whose acting skills in acting spoiled had clearly reached a new level—happily swallow the white tip in one bite. He then savored it, reflecting on the flavor, before swaying his head and saying, "A cheap sweetness." As expected, he was still a brat. Zong Yan didn't get angry; she had long anticipated this reaction. However, Si Jiang immediately took the cone from her and took another bite. "The taste isn't bad~" Holding that two-yuan cone like a cherished toy, he finished it bite by bite with total seriousness all along the way. Zong Yan looked up, brushing back the stray hairs on her forehead, and gazed toward the horizon. A flock of migratory birds was flying in a "V" formation in the opposite direction. It really was a beautiful day. "Master~" Si Jiang touched her with his cold hand. Zong Yan’s tone was gentle. "Hmm?" "Are we going home now?" "Yes." Si Jiang’s breathing slowed. "Whose home?" He had never been to Zong Yan’s home. Zong Yan had never mentioned it. Every time they met, it was at his house. Whether she was sleeping beside him or they were having sex, when he woke up the next morning, he was always alone in his bed. Zong Yan almost never stayed the night. "Can I go to your house?" he asked in a small voice. When Zong Yan didn't agree immediately, his happiness vanished as quickly as the ice cream had melted into his body. Si Jiang sensed that something was starting to go wrong. His throat began to ache, and a giant boulder seemed to block his chest, pressing down until he couldn't breathe. Why was she hesitating? He saw Zong Yan’s expression; she wasn't very willing. Why wasn't she willing? Could he not go? Could he still not go even now? Did she not want him to go? But hadn't he already knelt and called her Master? He had returned to her side, and he was being obedient. Why, why was she hesitating? Si Jiang was lost and panicked. His emotions rapidly hovered on the edge of a breakdown. *Master, coax me. Tell me that of course I can go back to your home.* He reached out expectantly to take Zong Yan’s hand. Zong Yan felt a vibration in her pocket. She looked down and pulled out her phone; it was a WeChat message. The sender was Bai Mao. In an instant, she forgot what she was about to say to Si Jiang and frowned. But that frown was like a heavy hammer blow, smashing ruthlessly into Si Jiang. His hand froze. Then, like a deserter, he tremblingly hid it back in his pocket. It was rare for Zong Yan to be in such a difficult position. Bai Mao said he wanted to talk to her. Although he didn't say it explicitly, Zong Yan understood in her heart that he likely knew about Si Jiang. After all, she hadn't been hiding anything anymore. Even the most good-tempered person wouldn't be able to stand it. Zong Yan knew that she wasn't exactly honorable in certain aspects, especially regarding emotions. She had used Bai Mao, drawing nourishment from this kind and innocent young man’s defenseless favoritism to get through the hardships of the past year. She knew Bai Mao liked her. Because he liked her, he never forced her to face his feelings, nor did he demand that she accept his affection. This junior simply and openly showed her the most beautiful side of his emotions. Even if it weren't within Zong Yan’s own dark and twisted life, such a thing would be precious in the wider world, wouldn't it? Bai Mao was truly good, but Zong Yan felt she couldn't give him what he wanted. She had no interest in romance and no fondness for the typical sentiments between men and women. Someone like Bai Mao deserved a normal and beautiful relationship, to be like a normal couple. Zong Yan couldn't do that; she didn't possess those things. She had only learned how to possess and control. Perhaps there had been a few moments when she felt she could try to live a normal person's life, to grasp that hand that was always reaching out to her. To walk into Bai Mao’s completely different world. That world surely contained the things she had longed for as a child. If she hadn't been entangled with Si Jiang. Whenever she wanted to reach out her hand, a pair of desperate eyes would glare at her, burning her palm like a demon’s curse, filled with blood-weeping anguish. In countless nights, she could hear someone asking her: "Didn't you say you wouldn't leave me behind?" Those eyes, which didn't possess even half the clarity of Bai Mao’s, held tears as twisted as her own. She had once nurtured a fragile trust in him, only to blindfold him and leave him on a park bench. Zong Yan saw a leash in her own palm. A leash she had once thrown away, yet could never truly discard. This rope had an owner. "Si Jiang, wait outside for me for a bit." Zong Yan was preoccupied. She led him all the way to her apartment building and, at the entrance, told Si Jiang to stay outside. "I'll come down in a while to bring you up." She didn't notice Si Jiang’s emotional state. She only saw her pet pull up the corners of his mouth, nodding to her with feigned calm and obedience, saying word by word, "Okay, I'll wait for you here." *Will you come back?* Si Jiang watched her figure disappear into the stairwell, the taste of rust rising in his mouth. *Will you really come?* An hour passed. Si Jiang thought: *Liar. Liar.* He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. She lied to him again. Why did she have to lie to him again! Was that person up there? That—that guy named Bai Mao. He walked into the building, head lowered, not letting his savage expression show. The elevator didn't come down, and he was unwilling to wait any longer. He had waited enough. In the stairwell: first floor, second floor, third floor... Si Jiang ascended without the slightest hesitation. He actually knew where Zong Yan lived—he had known since the second day he returned to the country. He had been waiting, waiting for Zong Yan to tell him, waiting for Zong Yan to bring him here. But he had never received that invitation. He would no longer be that fool who stayed in place after being abandoned. So what if he was abandoned? Weren't the dogs on TV just like him now? Shamelessly following the scent and finding the door themselves time and time again? He wasn't like those stupid dogs. Those stupid dogs would be thrown further and further away each time until they were completely lost. But he would not allow such a situation to happen. He would bite down hard on the hand that wanted to discard him and never let go, even in death. He arrived. Si Jiang glanced at the floor number. Because he had climbed the stairs too fast, his heartbeat and breathing were incredibly frantic. A vein in his temple seemed to be throbbing, aching with pressure. Gasping for air, he followed the room numbers. The string of digits was blurry and dizzying. *What's wrong with me?* Si Jiang shook his head, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and squinted to identify the door number. 02... 03... He froze. There was someone ahead. His master. His master was hugging a man. His master was so intimately hugging that man named Bai Mao. Si Jiang was stunned. His voice bypassed his reason, ringing out tremulously, "Master?" Zong Yan instinctively turned her head and saw him. Immediately, the tenderness and apology on her face vanished. She pushed Bai Mao away. She asked him, "Why did you come up?" She glanced at Bai Mao, who was wiping away tears, and then at Si Jiang, whose expression was starting to turn wrong, as if he were about to lose his mind. Ultimately, she stepped aside and beckoned to Si Jiang. "Come here." Si Jiang didn't move. He stared fixedly at Bai Mao. Bai Mao wiped his tears and glared back at Si Jiang with equal intensity. "You actually dared to hug her." "What right do you have to come looking for Senior?" Zong Yan’s head began to ache. *** | Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 白袤 | Bai Mao | A junior student (xue-di) who likes Zong Yan. | | 香草味甜筒 | Vanilla cone | A cheap soft-serve ice cream. | | 牵引绳 | Leash / Lead | Literally "traction rope," used metaphorically for their power dynamic. | | 学姐 | Senior | Term used by Bai Mao to address Zong Yan (older female student). |