The bearded man carefully trimmed Xiao Bai’s fur, emphasizing the arc of his tail and the small ears. Su Yan’s eyes sparkled more and more the further the man worked. Ah, this was exactly the dog he had imagined! Their Xiao Bai was so fluffy! How cute!

He excitedly tugged at Nie Chang’s sleeve, motioning at their dog. "Ah Chang, look at him!"

"I know, darling." Nie Chang gave a wry smile. Was it normal for people to be this excited about their dog getting his fur trimmed? Well, compared to the shabby look from before, their Xiao Bai had indeed turned into a beautiful white puppy now. And Su Yan had wanted this dog very much. It was probably normal for him to react like this.

Nie Chang glanced at his boyfriend and then back at the man carefully working on their dog’s fur. His lips curved up and he rubbed Su Yan’s back. "Your co-worker was right. This dog parlor is really very good. Just look at how great Xiao Bai looks now!"

"Mn! He’s very beautiful!"

Nie Chang nodded like a good boyfriend. "Mn, it’s also thanks to the skill of the person cutting the fur though. Can you imagine how he’d look if I tried that?"

Su Yan looked up at his boyfriend with a strange look. "Why would you cut Xiao Bai’s fur? You know nothing about fur!" He harrumphed and turned back, looking at the man that was carefully taking care of their dog. Mn … Su Yan reached over again and tugged at Nie Chang’s sleeve.

"What is it, darling?"

Su Yan glanced around and leaned closer. "Ah Chang, say, do you think he’s really a criminal? I don’t think criminals would treat a dog like that. Maybe he only has that beard because he likes hair?"

Nie Chang almost laughed out loud. He hurriedly masked it with a cough and looked away. Just how did his darling come up with these things all the time? He had hoped that Su Yan would throw out that notion of 'all bearded men must be criminals' but … why did he need to like hair to have a beard?

Nie Chang’s brows twitched. Well, then again, if he didn’t like hair maybe he wouldn’t have a beard … Ah, what was this? Was he getting influenced by Su Yan’s wild logic? It suddenly started to sound as if it made sense …

Su Yan tugged at his boyfriend’s sleeve again. "What is it? You don’t think I’m right?"

"No, no, I think you’re very right. That must be it. I mean look: He’s working in a dog parlor. Maybe it’s even his own dog parlor. He definitely has to be a law-abiding citizen, doesn’t he?"

Su Yan nodded slowly as if he was carefully considering the issue and coming to the very same result. "You’re right. It’s probably his own dog parlor. So he probably has the beard to show everyone that he’s really good at cutting hair! Actually, look at it: The beard is really neat. The beards they showed on TV were just very wild. That’s totally not the same thing."

"Mn." Nie Chang nodded as well. At the very least, he should be safe from any further comments on the man’s beard now, shouldn’t he?

Su Yan did indeed fall silent and the two of them just watched as the bearded man took care of the last details before he brushed through Xiao Bai’s fur with his fingers, making sure that all the loose strands and the fur he had cut-off were taken out. Finally, he turned to the two of them and nodded.

"Alright, finished. You’re good to go now. Make sure you brush his fur regularly. If you want to give him a shower yourself in-between coming here, make sure you use a shampoo that’s meant for dogs. The ph-value of their skin is different from humans so products that aren’t meant for dogs will damage his skin."

Nie Chang nodded while Su Yan shook his head. "Don’t worry! We’ll always come here when he needs a bath!"

Nie Chang glanced at his darling and nodded again. "What he said." If his darling insisted on coming here, then they would come here. And, well, this dog was a Samoyed. A few months down the line, he would be so big that taking care of him might get difficult especially since neither of them had ever had a pet. Before they did something wrong and made him afraid of taking showers or something, it was much better to come here and let the professionals take care of that.

The bearded man looked from Su Yan to Nie Chang and back again, scratching his head. "Alright?" He then patted the dog and motioned at Nie Chang. "You can take him down now. Is this your first dog?"

"Mn." Nie Chang very carefully picked the dog up again and put him onto the ground.

Xiao Bai ignored him and jumped at Su Yan with a woof. Now that he had finally turned into the white dog Su Yan had wanted, he was met with even more love in return. Su Yan crouched on the ground and hugged the dog, happily patting the smooth fur. "Ah, Xiao Bai, you’re so beautiful! You’re the most beautiful dog in the whole world! And your fur is so nice now! I mean it doesn’t just look nice. It feels nice as well. Ah, you’re so great! I love you!"

The dog was rewarded with a kiss, making Nie Chang raise his brows. Somehow, it was enough for a dog to take a bath and get his fur cut to be lavished with love while he … Well, he also dressed nicely for his little darling and he even cooked for him and had brought him a house but he had never been showered with affection to this degree where he would be complimented for a full five minutes while being cuddled and kissed. Were dogs really the better people?

He sighed and turned to the man from the dog parlor, going to the counter to pay while he left his darling with the dog. He also took the opportunity to apologize for what Su Yan had said before, mumbling something about how his boyfriend was slightly gullible and believed things he saw on TV too easily.

The man just nodded and waved his concerns away, finally going back to scribbling on the notepad.

Nie Chang heaved a sigh of relief and went back to Su Yan, nudging his shoulder. "I’ve paid. We can bring him home now."

"Oh. Alright." Su Yan reluctantly let go of Xiao Bai and put the leash back on him, handing it to Nie Chang before he rushed to the door. He really couldn’t wait to get home so he could continue to play with their dog!

Nie Chang opened the door for him but his little darling stopped in the doorway and turned back again.

"It’s great how far you’re willing to go for your dog parlor. Your beard actually looks really nice as well. I’ll tell everyone about it!" With that, he turned around again and left.

Nie Chang stared at his darling’s back dumbfounded. He gave the man behind the counter another embarrassed glance and then rushed out with the dog as well. Ah, at the very least, they had found exactly the dog Su Yan had wanted. He could probably take a few moments like this for that.

The bearded man couldn’t help but wonder though: This customer, what did he want to tell people about? The dog parlor or the fact that he had a nice beard?

yansusustories

So, originally, my plan was to write a very short extra about how Su Yan and Nie Chang got their big white dog and named it 'Xiao Bai'. Somehow, the thing turned into a 10-chapter story by the end though ?
I'm still quite happy with how it turned out and hope you liked it as well ?

As I already said before, I have two 'shorter' extras planned. The next one will be focussing more on Su Yan and Nie Chang (although Xiao Bai will have his big entrance as well).
I'll take Sunday off (because of the Hobbit-thing in case you need another hint ?) and start the second extra on Tuesday. I'm not quite sure right now if I'll be able to keep up the 'every two days' schedule for that one though since I still haven't managed to get a single draft for my stockpile done ? I'll tell you about that next week though ?