"Yin, it's me, Manman." Zhou Man ran up, no longer afraid of the dog biting her.
Shen Yin still pretended not to recognize her, "Who are you looking for?"
Zhou Man suddenly pounced on her, trying to grab Shen Yin's arm. Xu Xiuhe was quick to react, untying the rope that secured Huahua to the door.
Huahua was no ordinary pet dog. It was large in stature, with a fierce appearance. Gentle and kind towards its owner, but extremely vicious towards strangers who behaved suspiciously.
Xu Xiuhe closed the main door. Now free, the energetic Huahua dashed around joyfully.
"Woof, woof, woof woof." Huahua barked chaotically, charging towards Zhou Man.
Shen Yin and Xu Xiuhe stood by the window of the small building, watching the chase unfold outside between the woman and the dog.
Huahua seemed to be catching up, but then slowed its pace, stepping forward and closing in on Zhou Man.
"Woof woof woof."
At first, Zhou Man backed away, but after a few steps, realizing retreating was too slow, she turned and ran towards the end of Qinghe Street. Her posture was awkward, drawing the attention of people from the small houses lining the street.
"Mom, Huahua, Huahua." Zhengzheng watched from the window, pointing at Huahua as he spoke to Shen Yin.
Zhengzheng clapped his hands, slightly excited by the sight of Huahua chasing and barking at Zhou Man. Since moving to this small building, he hadn't seen Huahua, and today, the dog was far more lively than he had ever seen at Ziyue Manor.
Xu Xiuhe was also surprised, not expecting the usually gentle large dog to be so energetic today. If he hadn't witnessed this wild behavior, he would have thought they had turned the Tibetan mastiff into a little white rabbit.
Only when Zhou Man had fled far enough did Huahua saunter back, sitting obediently at the entrance, as if it weren't the same dog from moments ago.
Huahua's leash was still on, and it sat calmly at the door, panting but well-behaved. Shen Yin was worried that Huahua might be thirsty after all that barking.
"Xiuhe, why don't we bring Huahua upstairs and give it some water?"
No sooner had she said that than Zhengzheng went over, patted Huahua's head, and said, "Huahua is cool!"
Neither Shen Yin nor Xu Xiuhe had expected those words.
Zhengzheng then approached and hugged Huahua, saying, "Huahua barked today."
Xu Xiuhe put his hand to his forehead, realizing the child had thought Huahua was a little white rabbit all along, rarely hearing it bark.
Xu Xiuhe took hold of the leash around Huahua's neck and led it upstairs to the third floor.
Shen Yin found a bowl, poured some water into it, and set it down in front of Huahua.
Huahua lapped up the water, making slurping noises as it drank a few gulps. It then looked up, and Zhengzheng approached, asking, "Huahua, want some meat?"
Huahua blinked its eyes, gazing at Zhengzheng with a gentle expression.
Xu Xiuhe went into the kitchen, found a steak, put it on a plate, and set it down next to Huahua's water bowl.
Seeing Huahua happily eating, Zhengzheng was delighted, bouncing around the dog.
Xu Xiuhe turned to Shen Yin and said, "This morning when I bought groceries, Granny Su said she came here last night."
Shen Yin replied, "She called me yesterday. My understanding of her is limited to the original Shen Yin's memories – that she was very dependent on Shen Yin, extremely kind and caring towards her, always looking out for her and acting spoiled to get Shen Yin's attention. That's why Shen Yin liked her a lot."
Xu Xiuhe sighed, "Sometimes, liking someone can be very simple and have nothing to do with gender."
"So, the original host might not have been exclusively attracted to the same gender, but just happened to develop feelings for someone who shared her gender?" Shen Yin was always a bit slow on the uptake when it came to emotions.
"Perhaps because Zhou Man was so good to Shen Yin, Shen Yin fell for her. But she didn't realize that all that kindness was deception. No one is good to someone for no reason – they either want affection or personal gain. It's clear that Zhou Man was after personal gain, while I want your affection." Xu Xiuhe's voice took on a suave, flirtatious tone towards the end.
Shen Yin felt that Xu Xiuhe now was like a completely different person from when she had first transmigrated here. Back then, he was cold, heartless, devoid of human warmth. She could still remember his harsh tone and stern warnings, delivered with as few words as possible. Now, Xu Xiuhe shamelessly flirted every day, frequently throwing out lines and never missing a chance to call her "wife."
"Is that so? I don't recall who had a grim look and told me I wouldn't have an easy time." Shen Yin said nonchalantly.
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Xu Xiuhe's eyes as he quickly apologized, "Sorry about that. I didn't know it was you back then, and I did do a lot of things that harmed Zhengzheng."
"The original host probably didn't want to do those things because of her mental issues, but she couldn't control herself. It's good that she's in another world now, without those memories and still young." Shen Yin sighed.
"Yeah, I hope she meets someone in that other world who truly loves her, spoils her, whether male or female." Xu Xiuhe then remembered Zhou Man and asked, "What's the deal with Zhou Man? I only know she deceived Shen Yin."
It was only then that Shen Yin recalled she had only briefly mentioned to Xu Xiuhe that Zhou Man had lied to and stolen money from Shen Yin. She hadn't told him the specifics.
Well, she didn't know the details either. She had learned about it from Shen's Father, Shen's Mother, and Shen Lv.
Shen Yin relayed the information she had obtained from Shen's Father, Shen's Mother, and Shen Lv to Xu Xiuhe.
Xu Xiuhe fell silent for a few seconds. "You mean she married Guo Wei from Pei City?"
"Yes, that's what Father said. He said Guo Wei might even be older than him."
"Guo Wei is no ordinary man. He has a shady background and a harem of women." Xu Xiuhe commented, realizing he might be difficult to deal with down the line.
"Then why did she suddenly come looking for me? She already scammed 2 million from Shen Yin. With her current status, she shouldn't be short on money, right? Why do you think she came looking for Shen Yin?"
"It's never enough for the greedy. Even though you know martial arts, you should still be careful. I'll buy a few more Tibetan mastiffs." Xu Xiuhe felt the mastiffs were really impressive – gentle as lambs towards their owners, but vicious as wolves towards bad people.
"Ah?" After some thought, Shen Yin agreed. Since Zhengzheng liked them, and they could protect him, it was fine.
"What kind of person do you think Shen Lv is?" Shen Yin asked.
Xu Xiuhe didn't know why she was asking, but after considering, he answered, "He seems like a playboy, but he's alright to deal with. Not a bad person. He has some capability and is quite decisive in handling matters, though his flaw is not really considering the consequences of his actions. Like when he drugged Shen Yin and got me drunk – his intentions were good, for Shen Yin's sake, but it ended up causing her a lot of pain." As he spoke, Xu Xiuhe felt a twinge of envy for Shen Lv, who had a loving family and a carefree life.
"Yes, we often hurt others under the pretext of doing things for their own good."
