"I just got up! I'm coming in a minute!" Hao Ren answered her.
Hearing Xie Yujia's voice, Little White jumped up from the carpet.
Ruff! Ruff…"Did you hide Little White in there?" About to go downstairs, Xie Yujia heard the barking sounds and asked.
"Yeah." Resigned, Hao Ren walked over and opened the door.
Little White ran to Xie Yujia and jumped into her arms. It seemed to like Xie Yujia more than Zhao Yanzi. Hao Ren wondered if it was because Xie Yujia's body was warmer.
"Why does it have golden fur on its paws?" Xie Yujia petted Little White and found the difference in its paws.
"No idea. Maybe it evolved," Hao Ren answered casually.
Xie Yujia nodded, then she gave him a hard look. "Lazybones, are you going back to the bed? Get downstairs for breakfast!"
"Ok, ok…" Rubbing his eyes, he followed Xie Yujia downstairs.
In fact, Hao Ren was energetic due to his recent breakthrough into the Zhen-level. Besides, he had not slept at all last night, and he felt wronged to be called "lazybones".
Grandma was already sitting in the dining room and beside her was a pouting Zhao Yanzi.
"Why! Little White!" Zhao Yanzi had been sulky, but she grew excited at the sight of Little White.
She beckoned to Little White who immediately jumped from Xie Yujia's arms to the ground before dashing toward Zhao Yanzi.
With its golden paws, it looked like it was running on four golden clouds. It was a cute and dashing sight.
Little White jumped into Zhao Yanzi's arms with such great force that it almost pushed her to the floor.
The moment it was in her arms, Little White began to lick Zhao Yanzi's neck fawningly, making her giggle.
"Whose dog is this?" Grandma asked.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"One of my classmates gave it to me," Hao Ren said since he couldn't tell his Grandma it was, in fact, a lion. Anyway, there was not a trace of a lion's dignity in Little White.
"It's a pretty dog, but your Mom will probably have an issue with it," watching Little White frolicking with Zhao Yanzi, Grandma said.
"She's not here." Sitting at the table, Hao Ren opened the milk and began to eat the sweet potato soup Xie Yujia cooked.
"It has almost been one month now. I guess they will return soon. Otherwise, I would stay longer in Zhejiang," Grandma said.
"Really?" Hao Ren was surprised. Recently he had not spared a thought for his always absent parents. He was surprised they would come back soon.
Hearing the news about the imminent return of Hao Ren's parents, Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia's eyes lit up.
"They called me a couple of days ago. When she comes back, your Mom will become the head of an institute that studies ecosystems or something, with a ranking two levels higher than before, the same as that of the mayor. I'm not sure about the details, though," Grandma mumbled with the soft sweet potatoes in her mouth.
"What about my Dad?" Hao Ren asked immediately.
"It seems he will get a promotion, too, but I don't quite remember to what level." Grandma waved her hand uninterestedly. All she cared about was when Hao Ren would give her a great-grandson.
"Ok…" Hao Ren nodded and continued to eat his sweet potato soup, wondering if his parents would be even busier after the promotions. "Grandma, Little White is well-behaved. Let it stay home and keep you company," Zhao Yanzi lifted Little White and said to Grandma.
"Ok. Anyway, you can't take a little dog to school. Let it stay," Grandma said with a laugh.
Seeming to have understood their conversation, Little White suddenly became agitated. It jumped into Zhao Yanzi's arms, not wanting to stay home. After all, there would be many girls loved it and fed it at East Ocean University. If it stayed home, it would be trapped with an old lady. However, Hao Ren didn't give it any choice. After breakfast, he led Xie Yujia and Zhao Yanzi out the door, leaving Little White with Grandma.
After all, Grandma was alone, and the little "dog" could keep her company. Besides, Little White was not a little dog but a Spirit Beast that could protect Grandma if she was in danger.
Hao Ren drove the white Ford out of the garage in which there also parked a Ferrari, a gift from Zhao Hongyu. However, Hao Ren didn't want to drive such a fancy car to school. After all, keeping a low-profile was important.
Zhao Yanzi called shotgun, trying to show everyone her position as Hao Ren's 'formal wife'. Having no intention to fight with her, Xie Yujia sat in the back seat without a word.
The car drove along the road by the seaside, and the scenes were enjoyable.
While Zhao Yanzi watched the sea on their left, she saw Hao Ren's profile. She was surprised that this "uncle" had grown more handsome than yesterday.
She didn't know that Hao Ren had broken through from the Li-level to the Zhen-level last night. He had a different aura.
Illusion, it must be an illusion… Zhao Yanzi shook her head in denial.
"What's the matter? Do you have a headache?" Seeing her shaking head repeatedly, Hao Ren asked anxiously.
"No! Don't bother me!" Zhao Yanzi suddenly bared her teeth, and Hao Ren was so startled that he almost drove off the road.
Sitting in the back seat, Xie Yujia watched them bicker with a faint smile.
"Ah! Little White!" Zhao Yanzi shouted suddenly.
Hao Ren looked toward the window close to Zhao Yanzi's seat and found a mini-sized Little White was hovering in the air outside of the window. With flames enveloping its paws and its tongue hanging out, it kept at the same speed as the car.
Xie Yujia had been watching the sea on the left side of the road. Hearing their yells, she also saw the flying Little White. She had never imagined the little dog would be able to fly! The events in the last couple of days had changed her views about almost everything.
"That's weird. How could mini-sized Little White fly? Did it elevate to a higher level?" Zhao Yanzi wondered while she rolled down the window.
Her words reminded Hao Ren. "Had Little White also elevated?"
Hao Ren was sure it had when he saw its four golden paws. If it had not elevated, it would never have been able to use its innate power at will.
A little white dog flying on flames alongside a fast car would be an astonishing sight if anyone saw them.
It was fortunate that it was early morning and their car was the only car driving on the seaside road.
Little White flew through the open window and jumped into Zhao Yanzi's arms joyously.
"Hey! Didn't I tell you to stay with Grandma?!" Hao Ren glared at it while driving.
However, Little White pretended to be dumb; it licked Zhao Yanzi's palms ingratiatingly and made her laugh. Although shameless, it was brilliant. After some observations, it had found that Zhao Yanzi was in a higher position than Hao Ren on the food chain. Little White had to listen to Hao Ren, and Hao Ren must listen to Zhao Yanzi.
That was why it fawned over Zhao Yanzi, the big boss.
Sure enough, Hao Ren couldn't reprimand it properly when it was in Zhao Yanzi's arms. Under Zhao Yanzi's protection, Little White knew it was safe from Hao Ren's displeasure.
"What… is Little White?" Xie Yujia asked cautiously from behind.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"It's a Spirit Beast, one of Bin-level." Hao Ren had been a cultivation layman a couple of months ago, but now he could teach Xie Yujia some stuff about it.
"Bin-level Spirit Beast…" Xie Yujia murmured to herself as if she was digesting this information.
"Grandma must be bored at home by herself. I'll ask my Mom to pick Grandma up tonight, and she can come to our home. She can also stay with us for a couple of days," Zhao Yanzi suggested while petting Little White's soft fur.
"That's a good idea. You can call her and see if she's willing to go," Hao Ren answered.
Sitting in the back seat, Xie Yujia listened to them talk like an intimate family, and suddenly she felt like an outsider.
While Hao Ren drove the car, Little White frolicked with Zhao Yanzi until the latter gave it three Essence Replenishment Pills. Then, it crawled to the back seat and took a nap on Xie Yujia's soft thighs.
Hao Ren had seen through its tricks. The creature couldn't ditch him, the master, but it would rather stay with beautiful girls instead of Grandma, an old lady.
"Well, it's useless to reason with a Spirit Beast." From the back mirror of the car, Hao Ren saw Little White rubbing its golden paws on Xie Yujia's thighs while sleeping. Hao Ren sighed silently.
Hao Ren drove Zhao Yanzi to her home with the sweet potatoes Grandma gave her. Then, he drove to East Ocean University since it was still early for Zhao Yanzi to go to school. She would rest in her home before Zhao Hongyu drove her to school.
Hao Ren restarted the car. Xie Yujia remained in the back seat; she didn't ask to move to the front passenger seat.
Without Zhao Yanzi's babbling, it was quiet in the car.
Hao Ren was considering if he should turn on the radio to break the silence when Xie Yujia said abruptly, "Hao Ren, am… I extra?"
Still sleeping, Little White turned on her thighs. Lying on its back, it continued its nap.
"Why did you say that?" Hao Ren's heart lurched.
"I used to think it was impossible between you and Zhao Yanzi because of the age gap. But I find that you two are quite compatible," Xie Yujia said in a low voice.
After a moment of consideration, Hao Ren said, "There are things I didn't tell you. Since you are half in this circle, I'll explain everything to you…"
"Ok. Go ahead." Xie Yujia nodded gently.
"It happened…" Hao Ren was interrupted when a Rolls-Royce Phantom suddenly cut in front of him.
"I was going to your school to find you and didn't expect I'd run into you here!"
The window of the Rolls-Royce Phantom rolled down, and Zeng Yitao's face appeared behind it.
"Uncle Black Wolf, hit him," Zeng Yitao instructed in a light tone.