The Adorable Chu Wu

***

Su Hang looked at Shen Xi's shocked expression and felt a touch of loss.

Yes, they just got married, but when an unfamiliar man suddenly appeared in your room at night, consternation and shock were normal reactions.

"It's been a long day, so you should go to bed early. I....I'll sleep in the guest room tonight." After saying this, Su Hang nodded to Shen Xi then turned away, leaving the bedroom. It seems that he had forgotten that this bedroom was rightly his' too, along with this new house.

It wasn't long after Su Hang left that Shen Xi finally seemed to have snapped out of her astonishment.

Boom!!

Shen Xi heard another thunderbolt, with its light pa.s.sing through the heavy curtain a few moments after. The room's light-bulb couldn't help but flicker for a moment, the intense weather outside affecting it. 

Shen Xi turned back to windows and peeked past the curtains, looking out at the dark clouds, blurred by the rain splattering against the window.　　

After a while, a determination flashed in Shen Xi's eyes. She pulled the floor-to-ceiling windows open, and rain immediately fell on her. Her first thought was that it was cold. Then she thought about it: Since she felt the cold, did it mean that she wasn't in a dream?

Shen Xi couldn't help but move forward a little more. She walked right up to the edge of the balcony and carefully stretched out her hand past the balcony roof, her palm up. The rain tonight was particularly heavy, as if the sky was leaking. The raindrops were caught by the strong wind and drenched her whole body.

"It's wet. My clothes are wet, and my hair is wet." Such a palpable sensation confused Shen Xi even more. Now she wondered, was it the wedding that was the dream, or was it the funeral?

Su Hang left his new bedroom and headed downstairs to the guest room. He had long considered this scenario before their wedding. Su Hang had already moved most of his personal belongings into the guest room, while the master bedroom only contained a small number of his things. He didn't want to make Shen Xi uncomfortable by his sudden intrusion, but he also wanted to let Shen Xi accept his presence little by little. Hence the small number of personal belongings in the master bedroom. 　

Su Hang took a shower in the adjoining bathroom, then changed into a set of pajamas from the wardrobe. Somewhat uncomfortable, he pressed his aching temples. Although the wedding was done in a hurry, it was a marriage between the Su and Shen families after all, so many guests still attended. Coupled with the fact that he was genuinely happy that he was marrying Shen Xi, he drank a few more drinks than necessary during the wedding banquet.

Enduring his dull headache, Su Hang went to the kitchen to find some water to drink.

Their new house was a two-person house bought by Su Hang a year ago. It wasn't very big and was a modest, two-story building. It had one living room and only six rooms in total. Four upstairs, two downstairs, and a small yard. There was a dog currently living in the yard. It was picked up from the roadside by Su Hang a long time ago, and he had been keeping this dog for several years already. Su Hang liked it a lot, but it was going to be sent away tomorrow. This was because.....Shen Xi was afraid of dogs.

Su Hang had just left the kitchen when he saw Shen Xi coming down the stairs. She had changed into a cream-colored casual dress, her long hair wet.

Su Hang quietly choked on his saliva as he looked at the approaching Shen Xi. After composing himself, with an expressionless face, he asked: "Did...did you come down for some water?"

"Yeah." After that initial shock, the now calm Shen Xi became much more relaxed when facing Su Hang, Whether the five years she had experienced was a dream or not, this current Shen Xi had experienced all those memories. Although the two married for their own separate interests, after five years of marriage, the feelings of embarra.s.sment and awkwardness that colored their wedding night was a thing of the past for this Shen Xi.

"Oh." Su Hang shuffled to the side and gave way so that Shen Xi could enter the kitchen.

Shen Xi entered the kitchen and saw the familiar dining table in the middle of the s.p.a.cious room, as well as the electric kettle on the table. Shen Xi approached the table and found the filled kettle to be devoid of any steam. She touched its body with the back of her hand, and sure enough, it was cold.

Shen Xi skillfully picked up the kettle, then went towards the microwave to plug the kettle next to it. She pressed the switch at the base to start heating water. It took a few minutes for the water to boil. She then habitually turned back towards the table and noticed a covered white porcelain soup bowl. She walked over and opened the lid to see that it was a bowl of hangover soup.

Shen Xi remembered that during their wedding banquet, she had only drunk one or two cups of alcohol. The rest were all blocked by Su Hang. She didn't need this hangover soup at all, so it was obvious who this was for.

Shen Xi looked at the bowl of cold hangover soup. With a small sigh, she found a small clean pot, poured the soup in, then started the stove to heat it.

When the soup was hot enough, Shen Xi poured the hangover soup back into its original bowl then placed the lid back. She then took a cup and poured herself a gla.s.s of water and left the kitchen.

When Shen Xi left the kitchen, Su Hang had already returned to his room.  Shen Xi looked towards the guest room. She hesitated for a moment, before finally walking over.

Su Hang, who had been sitting under a lamp, reading, suddenly heard a knock at the door. His heart thumped uncontrollably. Ever since he bought the house, the only person that came over was nanny Zhang Wei, who would clean the house. But Zhang Wei usually left after cooking dinner. So the person who would be knocking at this time could only be Shen Xi.

What was Shen Xi trying to do, knocking on his door on their wedding night?

Su Hang was somewhat shy, but was also a little expectant. He put down his book and went to open the door.

"What's the matter?" Su Hang strived to make himself look extremely natural.

"I just saw the hangover soup that Zhang Wei prepared for you. You seem to have forgotten it." Shen Xi said softly.

"Oh." Su Hang said, stunned. "I didn't drink much anyway."

"Nevertheless, you should drink it just in case."

"Ah." Su Hang was overwhelmed by Shen Xi's sudden smile.

"And..." Shen Xi continued, holding her warm cup of water: "Don't drink cold water if your stomach isn't feeling well."

After saying these words, Shen Xi didn't wait for a reply and turned back to the bedroom on the second floor.

Su Hang stayed by the door for a while, trying to digest Shen Xi's words. Shen Xi knew that he had a bad stomach? Does that mean that she'd been paying attention to him? She saw that he was drinking cold water, so she came to remind me? 

So she cares about me.

After some wonderful speculation, Su Hang went to the kitchen in a pleasant mood. When he lifted the lid for the white porcelain soup bowl, white steam wafted up, causing Su Hang's expression to slightly slacken again. He looked at the bowl with disbelieving eyes, before becoming ecstatic.

It was already past nine o'clock. Zhang Hao left here at around eight o'clock. How could this hangover soup still be hot?

Su Hang carefully reached out, his palm touching the warm bowl. The warmth seemed to slowly spread to the depths of his heart.

Shen Xi did this for me, she heated the soup for me. Su Hang silently repeated this over and over again, a silly grin on his face as he clutched the bowl.

The next morning.

The first thing Shen Xi did when she woke up that morning was to check the date on her phone. November 6, 2017-- it was still more than five years in the past. Shen Xi put down her phone and walked to the window to open the heavy curtains. Today's weather was lovely, with the air smelling earthy after last night's heavy rain, making one feel comfortable.

Before going to sleep last night, Shen Xi had made a decision. If she woke up on the next day still in 2017, she would accept this as reality. Whether she experienced a rebirth or some sort of foresight, she would start things over with Su Hang. At the very least...

From the second floor, Shen Xi looked at the cheerful Su Hang playing with an adult labrador in the yard below. She softly whispered: "At the very least, I have to find out. Find out whether these memories in my head are true or not. If the person you like...is me."

Su Hang was currently in the yard, wearing light blue sportswear and throwing a toy ball. The silly labrador immediately ran to the ball cheerfully. He bit the toy ball and happily ran back to Su Hang, his tail wagging nonstop. Shen Xi saw that Su Heng seemed to be in a good mood as he praised the dog's efforts and rubbed his head vigorously.

Shen Xi and Su Hang had been married for five years. But during that time, nothing ever seemed to make him smile. Even when he treated her gently, at most, he only showed a slight smile, never like the smile he wore now. 

It seemed that he liked this dog very much! Shen Xi was certain of this. But had there ever been such a dog in this house? Shen Xi tried hard to remember, but couldn't find a single memory that featured this dog. Was those five years really nothing more than a dream?

Su Hang hugged the labrador into his arms, his fingers combing the soft and fluffy fur as he said: "Chu Wu, tomorrow Dad will give you to someone else. When you go there, you have to be good, ah. Your new owner will take good care of you, and Dad will go see you often."

(T/N: Chu Wu (初五) means is first/junior five. I thought it'd sound better as the original)

The labrador Chu Wu seemed to sense that he was about to be abandoned, so he was eager to lick Su Hang's face with his tongue.

"I know you hate the thought of parting, but there's no other way, Mom is afraid of you." Su Hang said. Holding Chu Wu's head, he continued: "Between Mom and you, Dad can only choose Mom."

Chu Wu seemed to knew that he hadn't succeeded in acting spoiled. He whined in a sad tone, sounding very pitiful.

ding dong

The doorbell interrupted the conversation between father and son. Su Hang said to Chu Wu: "That should be breakfast."

Chu Wu followed behind as his Dad walked to the entrance. Su Hang opened the small door on the big iron gate.

"Boss, your breakfast."

"You've worked hard." Su Hang accepted the bag his secretary pa.s.sed over. His secretary had gone to the 'Hundred Tastes Restaurant' early in the morning to buy some nutritious porridge and some of their famous snacks.

"Yes." His secretary was a shrewd and capable man, around 27 years old and wore a pair of frame gla.s.ses that made him look cultured. But at this moment, he looked a little hesitant as he said: "Boss...are you sure you want to go on a business trip to HK tomorrow?"

"We'll continue as planned." Su Hang replied.

"Yes." The secretary didn't ask again. He waited for his boss to close the door before turning around to go to the company and work. As the boss was going to travel tomorrow, he still had a lot of information to sort out. 

With breakfast in hand, Su Hang went back to the yard and tied Chu Wu to his s.p.a.cious kennel. Squatting down, he apologized: "Sorry, but Mom's here. I'm worried that you'll frighten her, so I can't let you in."

Chu Wu shouted a sad cry, it's big dark eyes wet.

"Hey, I'll come back and feed you in a little while." Su Hang rubbed the dog's head again, before walking back to the living room with breakfast.

***

Guys, it looks like this is a case of an Extremely Shy and Pure Man™

Anyway, new story because I found the beginning really interesting and potential fluff material.