Nie Chang finally finished the shopping with a set of bright red bowls and paid. Afterward, he went to pick his darling and their new dog up and carried everything over to the car while Su Yan ran around him, trying to get away from the dog that was once again jumping after him happily, clawing at his legs.

Nie Chang watched the two of them with a smile and put everything into the trunk. "Alright, I’m done. We can get in and bring it home."

Su Yan looked at him with pitiful eyes, asking him to take care of the dog.

Nie Chang sighed and crouched down, clapping his hands at the gray furball. "Come here!"

The dog stopped his pursuit of Su Yan and looked at Nie Chang eagerly. Then it bounced over, throwing itself into his arms with a woof and tried to lick his face. Nie Chang sighed and rubbed it’s fur, glancing at his darling. "It’s probably just very excited that it can be with us now. Just show it some love and I’m sure it’ll stop treating you like that."

Su Yan furrowed his brows. "It’s easy for you to say that! It didn’t try to claw at you!"

"Well, maybe that’s because it loves you more than me. Actually, I’m a little jealous of you."

Su Yan paused and then happily opened the door to the backseat. "Well, it’s no wonder. I’m so lovable, if I was the dog, I’d love myself more too!" He sat down with a smirk and then knocked on the window. "Why don’t you let it sit with me? You should drive us home." He furrowed his brows. "Or … maybe we should bring him to the shop and show him to Gong Gong and Old Lao?"

Nie Chang opened the other door to the backseat and let the dog jump inside before he sat down in the driver’s seat. "Well, I’m sure they’d like to see the dog but I think it’s better to wait a bit. We should at least give it a shower first, shouldn’t we?" He glanced into the rearview mirror and his lips twitched. "Come to think of it, maybe it would be better if we let a professional do that. Looking at the fur, he might need a haircut as well."

Su Yan looked at the dog that looked a little shaggy and nodded. "That doesn’t sound too bad. I think one of the girls from the railroad station had a dog that she always brought to one of those dog parlors. She showed us pictures of it. It was really cute!"

Nie Chang nodded. "I remember you telling me about that. Well, let’s go to that one as well then." He started the engine and then drove off, only glancing at the two of them every now and then. Despite the previous trouble, as soon as they were sitting next to each other, Su Yan and the dog got along very well.

Nie Chang smiled to himself. "Right, about its name …"

Su Yan raised his head, showing a very subtle expression.

Nie Chang had trouble to fight back his grin. Obviously, his little darling wanted to name the dog himself. But he still remembered that he had promised to let him do so so he probably had some reservations about revoking that right after he had just gone and bought everything for them.

Su Yan indeed struggled with his conscience. He looked at the dog, feeling that he would be able to give it the best name it could get. If Nie Chang named it … Who knew what he would come up with? The dog might not be happy at all if it got a bad name. What if it took it out on him then? That would be so unfair!

Could he really let that happen? Well, even if he did let Nie Chang name the dog, he should at least help him along a bit.

Su Yan pursed his lips and finally glanced at his boyfriend. "So … You’re supposed to name the dog. Have you come up with something yet?"

Nie Chang smiled brightly. "Well, I have a few ideas but I’m not sure yet."

Su Yan shuddered as if he had misgivings already. "Then … What’s your favorite right now?"

Nie Chang gave a hum. "It’s difficult. I really can’t decide. They’re all so lovely!"

Su Yan’s brows drew together. What lovely? They were probably all horrible! "Well, if you can’t decide, then maybe I can help out. I’m sure I could make a few very good suggestions." He glanced at the dog and patted its head as if he wanted to reassure it. "Anyway, what do you think of calling it Xiao Bai? I’m sure it would like that name."

Nie Chang raised his brows as if in doubt. "Xiao Bai? Are you sure? I mean it’s male. Shouldn’t it get a more awe-inspiring name?"

Su Yan looked at him as if he really doubted his intellect. "What’s that supposed to mean? What’s so bad about Xiao Bai? It’s a lovely name! You probably can’t come up with anything better anyway!" He turned to the dog and rubbed its ears, looking at it sadly. "Look at it! It’s small and after we’ve gone to the dog parlor, it’s going to be white. Why shouldn’t we call it Xiao Bai?"

Nie Chang nodded slowly. "That’s a splendid explanation, darling. I think you’ve managed to convince me. Yes, let’s call it Xiao Bai. I’m sure the dog will love it."

"Mn! He sure will." He rubbed the dog’s ears again and then gave a bright smile. Whether the dog liked it or not, he definitely liked the name and he wouldn’t accept any other!