Chapter 424 - 376: I Won’t Throw Away Your Puppy

Chapter 424: Chapter 376: I Won’t Throw Away Your Puppy

"It’s more than that, which is why it’s so hard." Gu Ning patted Alex’s back and said, "I have a responsibility."

Alex tried hard to understand what she meant. "If you don’t like a certain male, then it’s not your responsibility. They should be responsible for their own actions toward you." He paused, then added, "Including me."

Hearing this, Gu Ning finally realized they weren’t on the same page.

She pulled away from Alex’s embrace, cupped his face in her hands, and said patiently, "My love... is a responsibility."

Her words struck a chord with Alex, stirring a strange flutter in his heart.

Gu Ning told Alex a story.

When she was little, she found a weak puppy and brought it home. She secretly kept it in a corner outside the courtyard, building it a little doghouse out of bricks and sharing her own meals with it every day.

But that house wasn’t just her home. Or rather, it wasn’t her home at all.

One day, when she came home from school, the puppy didn’t run up to greet her, tail wagging, as it usually did.

She had to walk a long way to school every day. There was only one bicycle in the house, but she was never allowed to ride it, not even to touch it, all the way until she started middle school.

After she took in the puppy, it would smell her from far away and come running. As it grew, it would run further and further out to meet her.

But on this day, the puppy didn’t come. When she got back, she couldn’t find it anywhere.

The people in the courtyard smilingly told her the puppy had been thrown away.

Thrown away.

Her puppy had been thrown away...

She, who was living under someone else’s roof and had always been timid and well-behaved, threw a tantrum for the first time, crying and screaming. All she got in return were slaps that left her dizzy and disoriented.

She stood in the rain crying for a long time, and she searched for the puppy for a long time.

She didn’t find it.

After that, she never saw her little puppy again.

Later, when she grew up, she gradually came to understand that raising a puppy wasn’t just about feeding it. Her love was also a responsibility.

She had to have the ability to be responsible for that puppy for its entire life to be worthy of her own love.

Now, Alex was offering to share this responsibility with her—a responsibility that wasn’t his to bear.

This emotion was truly too heavy, weighing on her heart.

Love might be easy to say, but responsibility couldn’t be so easily described with words.

If Alex had gotten angry, she would have felt a little better, and she would have understood it more.

Just like how Barto would get irritable and jealous over things like this.

After hearing Gu Ning’s story, Alex was silent for a long time, only inwardly cursing himself as a bastard over and over again.

"I won’t throw away your puppy." Alex wiped the tears from the corner of Gu Ning’s eyes with his finger and pulled her into his arms. "Never."

"Thank you, Alex." Gu Ning gave Alex a kiss on the cheek.

"You don’t have to thank me," Alex said.

Gu Ning: "I do."

Alex leaned down and kissed her. "Alright then, just once, hmm?"

Gu Ning smiled through her tears. "Okay."

The two of them held each other in silence for a long while.

Just as Gu Ning was about to fall asleep while Alex gently rocked her, he asked:

"The people who hit you, are they still alive?"

His calm tone was laced with sharp killing intent.

Gu Ning: "...They will die."

*

"Still sleepy?" Barto ruffled Gu Ning’s messy hair, making her head bobble. "Why don’t we just cancel today’s plans? We can stay in and sleep."

Barto lay down beside her and scooped her into his arms.

"We have to go." Gu Ning hadn’t forgotten that Alex said they were going to the city center today. She climbed off the little fox. "I need to shoot some footage."

Barto saw her drowsy expression and how she was a bit unsteady on her feet. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her up, and carried her to the bathroom to wash up.

"This smell." Barto leaned close to Gu Ning’s face and sniffed, saying with disgust, "And you can stand it?"

Hearing that, Gu Ning also lowered her head and sniffed herself. She couldn’t smell last night’s odor anymore; instead, there was a pleasant fragrance.

"It’s fragrant," Gu Ning said, slightly surprised.

The little fox was both speechless and amazed at her sense of smell. ’Having a weak sense of smell is a good thing, I guess.’

The scent woke Gu Ning up quite a bit. She put her hand in front of the little fox’s nose. "It really is fragrant. Smell."

Barto said, "I’m the one who sprayed you with perfume. Of course I can smell it."

Gu Ning: "..."

*

*

After lunch, Gu Ning quickly packed up, and she and Barto’s group headed to the city center.

Just as they walked out of the hospital, Alex pulled up to the main entrance in a black SUV.

"Just one car?" Barto asked.

Gu Ning looked up at Cook, who had his arm around her, then at the Little Fairy Bird, who was standing a short distance away but clearly intended to come with them, and finally, at Lanuo, who was rolling down the rear window.

One car was indeed going to be a bit of a squeeze...

Cook alone would take up two seats.

"Let’s just squeeze in," Lanuo said. "It’s better not to get separated when we’ve got this big guy with us."

Gu Ning thought Lanuo had a point. She first shoved Cook in, then pushed the little fox, who didn’t seem keen on squeezing in with them, into the car.

Finally, she looked at the Little Fairy Bird, who hadn’t moved.

The back seat was already a bit crowded, though she was small enough to squeeze in.

After a moment’s thought, Gu Ning said, "Philinos, you can take the front passenger seat."

As she said that, she started to get in.

"No need."

Philinos bent his knees slightly, and with a single leap, landed on the roof of the car.

"..."

So the front passenger seat went to Gu Ning after all.

Alex leaned over to fasten her seatbelt and pulled down her mask. "The heat is on, and no one can see inside from the outside."

Gu Ning took a lunch box out of her satchel and handed it to him. "Alex, eat."

Alex had been busy until now; she figured he probably hadn’t had time to eat.

"WOOF!"

Cook leaned his head over, pawing at the lunch box in her hand.

Gu Ning ruffled his head and, smiling, pulled a large chicken leg from her satchel to give to the puppy.

She knew the puppy would be greedy, so she had come prepared.

With the chicken leg in hand, the puppy stopped making a fuss and sat down between Lanuo and Barto to gnaw on it.

"How come you didn’t bring me any food?" Lanuo asked.

Gu Ning turned to look at him. "You haven’t eaten?"

Lanuo chuckled. "I’m certainly no less busy than Alex."

Gu Ning said, "Oh, okay. Well, you should remember to eat on time then."

Lanuo: "..."

Barto let out a snort of laughter.

Alex’s lips curved into a smile. He gave Gu Ning a light kiss on the cheek, took her lunch box, and placed it in the storage compartment. "I’ll eat it later."

With that, he started the car and headed toward the city center.

"If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me," Lanuo said. "I’m starving."

Alex pulled a compressed energy block from his pocket and tossed it to the back.

Lanuo caught it, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "My pockets are full of these things."

Alex kept his eyes on the road as he drove and said, "Beggars can’t be choosers. If you don’t want it, give it back."

Lanuo gritted his teeth. "Are we friends or not? You won’t even share a bite of warm food with me?"

As he said this, his gaze shifted to the little female who was fiddling with her camera.

Gu Ning felt his gaze on her. Her eyes darted to the side, but she didn’t look at him, instead turning her body toward the car door to face away from him.

Lanuo: "..." ’Who did she learn that from?!’