Was Shang Zhitao going soft?
When work ended, Luan Nian texted Shang Zhitao: "Come to my car, I have something for you."
"Okay."
Shang Zhitao got in the car, but Luan Nian didn't seem to have anything for her at all. He drove straight to the building where she lived.
"Well, thanks anyway." Shang Zhitao unbuckled her seatbelt. Luan Nian got out of the car too. "I'll walk you up."
Shang Zhitao couldn't get a read on him. He blew hot and cold and thundered without warning, his moods never steady.
She walked to the entrance of her building, and when he showed no sign of leaving, she asked, "Want to come up for a bit?"
"Sure."
He wasn't particularly interested. Other people's living spaces didn't concern him. But he remembered how she'd stopped him downstairs last time, and today she was breaking pattern again by not going home with him, so he wanted to see what kind of creature she was keeping up there. Her stairwell was narrow, the steps uneven. If it were the middle of the night, a stray cat darting out from the side would be enough to scare someone half to death.
It occurred to him that on the nights she worked late, she must have climbed these stairs more times than he could count. She'd probably been startled plenty. But she was always cheerful in front of others, so no one would have known.
Shang Zhitao unlocked the door and went in. Luan Nian stood in the doorway and looked the place over, surprised to find it clean and tidy. Shang Zhitao felt a little self-conscious and pointed at the sofa. "Wait here a minute, I'll grab what I need and we'll go."
"Go where?"
"To your place, right?" Shang Zhitao had already decided for herself what Luan Nian had in mind. He'd lowered himself to come all the way here, so what else could it be for besides letting his bird out for a walk? But she didn't want that here. This was her home, hers and her friends', and she didn't want to do those things in it.
"What about the dog?"
"Bring it. No dog, no me." Shang Zhitao really was being bold today. It had to be Luke giving her the nerve to keep pushing her luck with Luan Nian.
"Fine." Luan Nian took off his coat and shoes, waiting for her to bring him slippers. Shang Zhitao looked a bit apologetic. "The only men's slippers I have are Sun Yuanzhu's."
"It's fine."
Luan Nian stepped onto the floor, walked over, and sat down on the sofa. He watched Shang Zhitao go to the balcony and open the small door, and a white fluffy ball came tumbling out, thrilled beyond words, circling around her.
Shang Zhitao was just as delighted, stamping her feet lightly on the floor. "Big sister's home!" She bent down and scooped it up. "Hang on a second, I'll pack a few things, then we're taking you to a big fancy house today. We're going to the villa district to pee, doesn't that sound great?"
Was she out of her mind?
Luan Nian scoffed inwardly and looked away, pulling out his phone to answer messages. He had a lot of them, and he liked to handle them all at once. As he was replying, he felt something warm against his foot. He looked down and saw Shang Zhitao's dog sitting right on top of it, tongue out, grinning up at him.
Luan Nian called out, "Shang Zhitao!"
His voice was sharp with displeasure. He pulled his foot free and drew his legs up onto the sofa. Shang Zhitao ran in, saw him like that, then looked at Luke, and her eyes widened. "You're scared of dogs?"
"Get it away from me."
"Why?"
Luke had only been around a few days and was already a local celebrity. The grandmas and grandpas out for their morning walks loved seeing him get taken down for his early pee break. Luan Nian was the first person who didn't like him.
"Get it away."
Luan Nian didn't like dogs, especially the soft, floppy kind. If you were going to keep a dog, a pit bull had some point to it. What was this thing Shang Zhitao had picked out? It looked just like her, dumb as a post, sitting on her lap now with its ears drooping and its round eyes darting back and forth before settling on Luan Nian. At a red light, Luan Nian glanced sideways at the creature, and it wasn't pleased about it either, giving a sharp bark in his direction. It was still holding a grudge over the cold shoulder.
"What's it called?" Luan Nian asked Shang Zhitao.
"What?"
"Your idiot dog. What's its name?"
"It's just called... dog..." Shang Zhitao smiled at him and patted Luke's head. Luke hadn't gotten used to his own name yet anyway, so it made no difference to him what anyone called him. He clamped his mouth around his little ball, ears bouncing with every shake of his head, thoroughly enjoying himself.
"You get a dog, what happens when you travel for work?"
"My roommate can help me out."
Luan Nian glanced at her sideways and caught the happiness that crossed her face at the mention of her roommate, and said nothing more.
They got out of the car. Shang Zhitao carried Luke toward the entrance, and Luan Nian asked her, "You're bringing him in? The garage isn't good enough for him?"
"Then I'll stay in the garage too. Or we can go back to the car, get this over with quick, I'll just carry the... dog and go." Her face was set with determination, ready to live or die alongside her dog.
Luan Nian laughed despite himself. "Just keep it away from me!"
"He's shy around strangers. He won't come near you."
Shang Zhitao really didn't know her own dog at all. Shy around strangers, sure. The moment they got to the living room and she set him down, he ran straight to Luan Nian's leg, pawed at it, then flopped onto his back with all four paws in the air. Luan Nian froze and asked Shang Zhitao, "Him? Shy?" He shot Luke a look and walked off.
Shang Zhitao hurried over and scooped Luke up to lecture him. "Can't you read the room? Can't you tell when someone likes you and when they don't? Why are you crowding up to him like that? He doesn't even like you."
That was a pretty harsh thing to say. Luan Nian gave her a long look. She, meanwhile, went right on as if she hadn't noticed, telling Luke, "Listen here, no more of that enthusiasm. Push your luck and I'll smack you."
She patted Luke's head and set him down to let him play. Luke, finding himself somewhere new, thought it was great fun, wandering around sniffing at this and that, and when that wasn't enough, he bent his back legs. Shang Zhitao's voice cracked with alarm. "Luke!"
Too late. Luke relieved himself right there in Luan Nian's living room, marking his territory, and even kicked his back legs afterward for good measure. That single name, called out loud, froze both the humans and the dog in the room.
Luke: You calling me?
Luan Nian: Who's Luke?
Shang Zhitao: Did I really just say that out loud?
The silence that followed felt like it lasted a century.
Luan Nian looked at Luke, then at Shang Zhitao. "What's his name?"
Shang Zhitao could have bitten off her own tongue. She smiled at Luan Nian. "It's... dog."
"What did you just call him?" Luan Nian's face had already gone dark.
Shang Zhitao lowered her head and muttered under her breath. "Luke."
"You named your dog Luke?" Luan Nian asked her.
"I just thought the name sounded... nice." Shang Zhitao felt a chill sweep over the top of her head, like the gates of heaven had just opened right above her.
For a long moment there was no response. When she finally looked up, Luan Nian was already at the elevator. He was genuinely angry.
However harsh he'd ever been with her, he'd never disrespected her to this degree. So could he go get himself a dog and name it Flora?
In the bedroom, as he undressed, Shang Zhitao followed him in and cleared her throat. "Luan Nian."
"Get out."
Luan Nian took off his clothes and changed into a T-shirt. When he didn't hear her leave, he turned around and looked at her. "What is it, Flora?" Calling her Flora meant he was truly furious.
Shang Zhitao walked up to him and, after a long pause, said, "I named him Luke because it just came to me when I was thinking of names. I thought it sounded nice. It wasn't until after I'd decided that I realized why it sounded so nice. It's because it's so close to your English name. I guess my head's just full of you, so I wasn't thinking straight. Should I... rename him? Alex is a nice name too, I think."
Her tone carried a note of real sincerity, but Luan Nian couldn't be bothered with it. "Call him whatever you want. What do I care?"
Behind him, Shang Zhitao pursed her lips, her eyes curving. Wasn't that a smile?
"So he's staying Luke?" Shang Zhitao pushed her luck, turning to the dog trailing beside her. "Luke, come on, say hello to uncle."
"You're telling your dog to call me uncle when you're his big sister?"
"Well, you're older..."
Shang Zhitao really was being reckless today, testing Luan Nian's patience over and over. Watching his expression darken gave her a little thrill of satisfaction. Ha, she thought, I'm not scared of you.
She told herself she wasn't scared. But once the lights went out and the room went dark, once his breath burned scorching hot against every inch of her, she was scared after all. Every time Luan Nian was about to leave on a trip, he turned frightening beforehand, more forceful than usual and harder to satisfy. Sometimes when Shang Zhitao grew tired, he'd say, "Who told you to move?"
Meaning: I'm not even tired yet, what are you tired for.
Tonight Shang Zhitao genuinely had reason to thank Luke. Just as she was bracing herself for how far things might go, Luke suddenly barked from beside the bed, having slipped in without anyone noticing. Luan Nian stopped, and by the moonlight he looked down and saw the dog sitting right there, watching them.
Damn it.
Luan Nian sat up, let out a long breath, and once he'd exhaled the frustration in his chest, said to Shang Zhitao, "Get your dog out of my bedroom."
"He sleeps with me at night," Shang Zhitao said seriously, then got out of bed and took Luke to the guest room.
This left Luan Nian stuck in an unfinished state, lying in bed unable to sleep. In the middle of the night, wanting something cold to drink, he went down to the living room and opened the fridge. He heard the door and saw Shang Zhitao come back in, bundled in a down jacket with Luke in tow. Catching his suspicious look, she explained, "I was worried he'd pee in your place again. Cleaning it up once was tiring enough."
It was freezing out there, and she'd dragged herself up to take Luke out to pee. What was the point? Luan Nian didn't look at her, just turned to drink his water. Behind him, she wrapped her arms around him, bringing the cold night air with her, and pressed her face against his back. "What else would I call him besides Luke? You're not around, but there's still Luke."
She'd never known before that loving someone could run this deep. Her heart felt unmoored, restless. She was jealous of his long trip with his friends, didn't want him gone for two whole months. She thought it made her pathetic, missing him before he'd even left. She missed him and couldn't tell him so, could only say things this flimsy, and everything else stayed as silent resistance and sharp edges.
Luan Nian let her hold him like that, and after a long moment, he turned around, cupped her face, and kissed her gently. Luke made a small sound beside them. Luan Nian broke off the kiss and asked Shang Zhitao, "So can your Luke stay in the guest room by himself for a bit? I feel like we're being watched."
"Okay."
Luan Nian's unresolved state finally found somewhere to go, and he wanted to empty himself out completely, to fill back up slowly once he was away from her. When he lost control, his teeth grazed her neck, and she pushed back gently. "Don't, I need to go home."
Luan Nian ignored her. So what if she needed to go home? He held her still, wouldn't let her move, pressed his tongue to her neck, and heard her breath catch. He knew she liked it.
He liked it too.
Shang Zhitao gave as good as she got, and then some.
"Would anyone mind?" Shang Zhitao asked him.
"There's no one else."
"Hm?"
"There's no one else." For the first time, Luan Nian answered her question head on. "You've got some kind of delusion, don't you, thinking I've got women all over the world? I'm not an animal."
"Then how do you handle it, every time you're gone that long?" Shang Zhitao sat up and looked at him. The T-shirt draped over her was his, hanging loose. He'd bought her sleepwear, and she insisted on wearing his instead.
"Want a demonstration?"
"Sure."
Luan Nian took her hand and said quietly, "Like this."
It was scalding hot. Shang Zhitao swallowed and didn't dare meet his eyes. Luan Nian, displeased, told her, "Look at me. Pay attention."
His lips pressed to hers, his tongue brushing hers. "Try a little harder, Shang Zhitao."
Luan Nian really was too much.
Shang Zhitao carpooled home with Luke in her arms. He wasn't even two months old yet, and this was already his first trip in dog years, over two thousand kilometers round trip. It really wore him out.
Old Shang and Da Zhai were thrilled to see Luke, especially Old Shang, who carried him on his shoulder like a grandson. "Ah, my little Luke, I'm taking you around on New Year's Day to pay respects!"
"Can you bow properly? Learn to bow, we'll collect some red envelopes, and I'll buy you meat when we get back!"
"Hey, Luke! Don't eat that meat! It's too salty! That snow white fur of yours can't handle salt!"
"Where's Luke? Where's Luke? Did grandpa take you out to play?"
Shang Zhitao protested. "Don't call yourself grandpa! If I'm his sister and you're his grandpa, the generations don't line up at all!"
"Then what should I be?"
Shang Zhitao didn't know what to call him either. She thought it over for a while before finally saying, "Call yourself uncle!"
It was New Year's Eve, and outside firecrackers popped and crackled. Shang Zhitao said to Luke, "Another year's gone by, Luke."
In New York, Luan Nian was playing cards with a few close friends. A friend named Chen Kuannian noticed the two marks on his neck and teased him, grinning, "Someone had a rough time, huh."
Luan Nian glanced at him and said nothing.
A little while later, he got an email from Shang Zhitao, short as always: "Happy New Year, wishing you all the best."
"Happy New Year. May your Luke grow up strong."