The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

Back home, Ye Shu lay on the sofa, moved her feet back onto the cushions, and resumed her relaxed, lounging posture.

He then picked up the bottle of his favorite cola, poured himself a glass, and took a sip.

When Xia Qing returned, she grabbed a large plastic basin, took the puppy into the bathroom, and went to give it a bath.

Ye Shu sat in the living room, drinking cola, listening to the sound of running water in the bathroom, Xia Qing's occasional "Hey, don't move around!" and "Be good, it'll be done soon!", as well as the puppy's whimpering.

However, what she heard most often was Xia Qing's laughter. Clearly, bathing this puppy was not a hassle for her, but a very interesting thing.

It seems she really likes this little thing.

After a while, the sound of water stopped in the bathroom, and the hairdryer stopped buzzing for a moment before Xia Qing came out of the bathroom carrying the puppy.

"Look, it's completely transformed!"

Xia Qing carried the puppy to the sofa.

The puppy, freshly washed and dried, looks completely different from the little mud ball it was downstairs just moments ago.

Because the fur was washed and then blow-dried, it's now fluffy.

Xia Qing sat down next to Ye Shu, handed the puppy to him, and proudly said:

"How is it? Isn't it especially cute? I washed it very clean."

Ye Shu put down the cola, reached out and held the puppy by its two front paws, just like the old monkey in The Lion King lifting Simba, and held it in front of him to examine it carefully.

The puppy was probably still dazed from Xia Qing's earlier bath. It didn't struggle, just waving its little paws in the air, whimpering softly, looking at Ye Shu with a bit of confusion.

"It's so well-behaved. It doesn't make a fuss or run around during bath time. It's very sensible."

Xia Qing kept praising him from the side.

But Ye Shu silently complained to himself, "What you said in the bathroom just now didn't sound so obedient."

Thinking it over, Ye Shu slowly lifted the puppy up, then stared at its belly for a moment before nodding.

"Hmm, it's a male puppy."

"Ye Shu!"

Xia Qing snatched the puppy back from Ye Shu's hands, hugged it tightly to her chest, covered the puppy's belly with one hand, and glared at Ye Shu:

"What are you looking at! You pervert!"

Ye Shule was happy:

"What do you mean by 'hooligan'? This is scientific observation, okay? We're all grown men, what's wrong with what we're looking at? Besides, who acts like a hooligan with a pup?"

"That's not allowed! You're not allowed to look!"

Xia Qing picked up the puppy, brought it close to her face, rubbed her nose against the puppy's wet nose, and said to the puppy:

"Let's ignore him, he's a scoundrel, isn't that right? Little cutie?"

The puppy wagged its tail and licked Xia Qing's nose twice with its tongue.

Watching the person and dog having so much fun, Ye Shu took a sip of her cola and slowly reminded them:

"Comrade Xia Qing, you'd better not hug her too often right now, and don't rush to put her on the bed or sofa."

Why?

Xia Qing was still immersed in thinking about how cute the puppy was when she heard Ye Shu's words, which she found a bit of a mood killer. Displeased, she turned around and asked:

"I've washed it until it smells wonderful, look how clean it is!"

As he spoke, he held the puppy up to Ye Shu's face, letting him see just how clean it was.

Ye Shu nodded and said:

"It may be clean, but stray animals might have flea and lice eggs on them, which can't be cleaned up with just one bath. Besides, do you know if it has any parasites in its stomach?"

Seeing that Xia Qing's expression had also become serious, he continued:

"Once its fur is dry this afternoon, you should take it to a reputable veterinary clinic for a checkup, deworming, and vaccinations. Since you've decided to keep it, you should take good care of it and be responsible. It's for its own good, and it's for ours too."

After listening, Xia Qing looked down at the puppy that was only licking her hand and nodded.

"Okay, then."

She gently stroked the dog's head and said to the puppy:

"I'll take you for a check-up right away, get rid of all the worms, and make you healthy."

Ye Shu watched as she started whispering to the puppy again and found the scene quite soothing.

He leaned back comfortably on the sofa, enjoying the soothing scene of the man and his dog, and poured himself a drink of his favorite Coke.

He actually thought it was quite nice to have such a little one in the family. At least when he went to work, they wouldn't be all alone at home.

Perhaps this little one's liveliness will help Xiaoxue to accept the outside world a little better.

Xia Qing played with the puppy for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Ye Shu and said:

"Ye Shu, let's give it a name."

Naming...

We definitely need to give it a name; we can't just keep calling it "Little Dog."

Ye Shu looked at the yellow ball of fur in Xia Qing's arms and said:

"Isn't that simple? Look at the color, just call it Big Yellow, or Little Yellow, that's more friendly."

"Can you be serious? Pick a nice-sounding name!"

Xia Qing was clearly unhappy with his perfunctory attitude.

Ye Shu grinned. He thought he was being quite serious. "Little Huang," how fitting!

However, there was nothing he could do if Xia Qing didn't like it. He then counted a few classic dog names that he remembered on his fingers:

"Isn't 'Little Yellow' a good name? How about 'Prosperous Wealth,' 'Wealth,' and 'Good Fortune' instead?"

After hearing this, Xia Qing made no attempt to hide her disdain, directing it all at Ye Shu.

She held the puppy, looked at Ye Shu with a pitying gaze, shook her head, and sighed:

"So corny, it's downright tacky. Ye Shu, your talent for naming things is truly... um."

Perhaps it was a spontaneous remark, or perhaps it was simply a matter of the conversation flowing by, but Xia Qing blurted out without thinking:

"If we have children in the future, we absolutely cannot let you name them, it's too scary."

After saying that, she froze for a moment, then blushed slightly and quickly lowered her head, pretending to examine the puppy's ears in her arms.

Ye Shu didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said, perhaps because she hadn't thought about it deeply, and simply went along with her words:

"You know what, I've actually thought about that. If we have a child in the future, and it's a girl, I've already thought of a name: Xiaohua (Little Flower). You see, my surname is Ye (Ye), and her name is Xiaohua, which has both flower and leaf in it—isn't that wonderful!"

Hearing the name Ye Shu had chosen and seeing his self-satisfied expression, Xia Qing didn't know whether to be shy or angry. In the end, she could only look at him speechlessly.

"Let's discuss this matter later, later."

She turned her attention back to the puppy in her arms, holding it close, and looked around, her eyes landing on the large bag of potato chips next to the sofa.

Xia Qing's eyes lit up. She lowered her head, tapped the puppy's nose with her finger, and asked:

"How about I order you potato chips? The color matches, how about it? Potato chips?"

Whether the puppy truly understood or simply liked Xia Qing, it barked in response.

"It agreed; it likes the name!"

Xia Qing was immediately delighted, lifted the puppy to her face, and barked at it several times:

"Potato chips! Potato chips!"

The puppy barked several times in response, its tail swishing and leaving afterimages.

Ye Shu, watching from the side, curled his lip; he had reservations about the name "potato chips."

He took a sip of cola and muttered, somewhat unconvinced:

"Why would a dog have to be named 'Rat'? Isn't that like a dog catching a mouse and meddling in other people's business? It's better to just get your own good fortune."