Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 70

Extra 3: Gu Dabao’s Pet Diary

#Something Missing at Home

After the Spring Festival, Gu Jiahe and Li Zhao returned home early. The house had been empty for a few days and felt a bit desolate.

Gu Jiahe rolled up his sleeves and quickly cleaned the house, while Li Zhao went to clean the kitchen hood.

After a while, Li Zhao came out of the kitchen, hands in his pockets, and suddenly said, “Do you feel like something is missing at home?”

Gu Jiahe put the broom in the storage cabinet and looked up at him, “Is it the five million savings certificate that’s missing?”

Li Zhao clicked his tongue, “Money lover.”

He walked up to Gu Jiahe, “Don’t you feel like there’s something missing living creature-wise?”

Gu Jiahe pretended to be surprised, “Are we not enough?”

Li Zhao crossed his arms, “Forget it.”

That’s where this conversation ended, and they didn’t bring it up again.

A month later, Li Zhao was finally promoted to partner. Qin Yi took the initiative to suggest throwing him a small celebration, and she invited Gu Jiahe as well.

After Li Zhao told Gu Jiahe about this news when he got home, Gu Jiahe pounced on him and hung onto his back.

He said triumphantly in Li Zhao’s ear, “You have to thank me.”

Li Zhao was almost knocked over by his sudden attack, taking him two seconds to regain his balance.

With a heavy tone he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Gu Jiahe grinned sneakily, “I made a wish to the Bodhisattva on New Year’s Day. Isn’t this wish fulfilled now?”

Li Zhao could only laugh. This guy was over thirty but still had the same mentality as when he was eighteen or nineteen. No, he was even more childish than back then.

He helplessly patted his back, “Alright, my great benefactor.”

The celebration banquet organized by Qin Yi didn’t invite too many people, just two colleagues who were quite familiar with Li Zhao. Liu Qing also volunteered to join.

Over the years, most of the people in Li Zhao’s office knew about Gu Jiahe. Occasionally, Gu Jiahe would make coffee for Li Zhao and would also bring a cup for his colleagues. Their impression of him was pretty good, and they were all very friendly.

Gu Jiahe took the subway to the agreed-upon restaurant, where a few people were already seated in groups of two or three.

The seat next to Li Zhao was empty, so he naturally walked over and sat down.

Liu Qing was sitting in the innermost seat. When he saw Gu Jiahe, he waved enthusiastically, “Hey, Mr Gu!”

Gu Jiahe smiled at him, “I told you not to call me Mr.”

Liu Qing said, “No way, I’m following Sammy’s lead.”

Gu Jiahe had some contact with Sammy. Last year, Liu Qing and Sammy successfully got married, and they went on a trip to Europe as their honeymoon. On the return journey, Sammy remembered to bring Gu Jiahe a long leather wallet.

When Gu Jiahe received it, he was shocked by the price and immediately went to the store to buy Sammy a scarf as her wedding gift, which finally eased his mind.

Thinking of this, Gu Jiahe casually asked Liu Qing, “Why didn’t Sammy come with you today?”

Liu Qing replied, “Oh, she’s at home taking care of the kids.”

Gu Jiahe was puzzled, “Kids? But haven’t you…”

Liu Qing burst into laughter and waved his hand, “No, no, it’s puppies. She had a Teddy before and recently gave birth to a litter of puppies. She’s worried about any risks right after giving birth, so she’s staying home to look after these little puppies.”

Gu Jiahe nodded, “I see.”

Li Zhao became interested and turned to ask, “How many did she give birth to? Are you planning to keep them?”

Liu Qing shook his head, “Three in total. We can’t keep them all. Two have already been reserved for Sammy’s friends, and there’s one little one left that nobody wants yet.”

Li Zhao was about to ask further when Qin Yi walked in. He naturally stopped talking.

Qin Yi took off the cashmere scarf around her neck and sat down at the seat facing south, “I’ve arranged the dishes. We’ll start serving them directly.”

When Gu Jiahe saw Qin Yi, he immediately got up to greet her. Over the past two years, he had met Qin Yi a few times. She had recommended two interns directly from school to their department. Gu Jiahe was quite grateful to her and had always wanted to invite her for a meal.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the situation in the private room, quietly got up, and went to the front desk of the restaurant.

Two minutes later, when he returned to his seat, everyone was already seated.

During the banquet, they mostly talked about matters in their law firm. Gu Jiahe had adapted to such social occasions over the years. Occasionally, he would mention a topic or two and could join in the conversation.

He had once stood in the backlight and watched the prosperity of this city. Now, he felt that he could step in with one foot and feel the heat of the neon lights.

As the dinner was coming to an end, Qin Yi took the initiative to get up, saying she needed to go to the bathroom.

After five minutes, when Qin Yi came back, she looked a bit displeased.

“Xiao Gu, why did you settle the bill first? Today, I was supposed to treat everyone.”

Gu Jiahe smiled apologetically, “I just went to the bathroom and happened to settle it. Next time, next time, you treat.”

Li Zhao was somewhat surprised and turned to look at him.

“I’m older than all of you. It’s only right for me to treat. At the very least, it should be Li Zhao who pays, to celebrate his promotion.” Qin Yi saw Gu Jiahe’s smiling face and didn’t pursue it further, joking with him.

Gu Jiahe nodded, “Whether it’s me or him treating, isn’t it just robbing Peter to pay Paul? Let’s just say Li Zhao treated.”

The colleagues next to them burst into laughter, “Li Zhao, Mr. Gu is quite eloquent. You should repay him well when you get home.”

Li Zhao reached out and tapped Gu Jiahe’s shoulder, then chuckled.

Finally, Gu Jiahe stood up proactively, raising the half-filled champagne in front of him. “Come on, let’s toast to the success of Lawyer Li’s promotion. And I wish everyone a smooth year ahead.”

The exquisite chandelier above the dining table reflected in Gu Jiahe’s eyes, which were filled with a joyful smile. Li Zhao looked up at him and felt as if he was emitting a faint glow.

#Gu Dabao is here

Three months later, one day, Li Zhao drove to pick up Gu Jiahe from work. Gu Jiahe quickly rushed out of the office building and opened the passenger door, but heard a strange noise from the back seat.

He stopped his hand that was pulling the seatbelt and leaned back to take a look. To his surprise, there was a brown puppy sitting in the back seat, with watery eyes and fluffy curly hair, looking incredibly cute.

Gu Jiahe widened his eyes and turned to ask Li Zhao in the driver’s seat, “Where did it come from?!”

“It’s the leftover puppy from Liu Qing’s house.”

“Damn. Why didn’t you say anything and just brought it back like this?”

“You don’t like it?”

“Well, it’s not that.”

“In that case, it’s fine.” Li Zhao said, stepping on the accelerator and turning onto the road.

After they arrived home, Gu Jiahe opened the car door and carefully carried the puppy out.

A soft, warm puppy. This little dog seemed to have a good connection with him. It didn’t struggle in his arms, and even nudged his chest with its head.

Gu Jiahe stood in the elevator, looking at the puppy’s wet nose, and his heart softened.

Li Zhao opened the door and leaned against it, letting Gu Jiahe enter first.

Gu Jiahe carried the puppy into the living room, sat on the sofa, and gently stroked its back.

Li Zhao looked at the two of them and found it amusing. “Let’s give him a name.”

Gu Jiahe tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Chocolate?”

Li Zhao shook his head. “There are Teddy bears all over the place, and eight out of ten are named Chocolate.”

“How about Quduo Duo?” Gu Jiahe glanced at the color of the puppy, which was quite similar to a baked biscuit.

Li Zhao sat down next to them. “How about calling him Gu Dabao?”

“What, he’s already my son now?”

“You two look alike.” Li Zhao said firmly.

“He’s so small, how can he be called Dabao? If anything, he should be called Gu Xiao Bao.” Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but lightly tap the puppy’s nose with his finger.

“A family can’t have two Little Baos.” After saying this, Li Zhao went to the kitchen to boil water.

Gu Jiahe sat on the sofa, paused for two minutes, and then realized what he meant.

From that day on, their home had a new member named Gu Dabao.

Although Gu Dabao was small in size, he had a lot of energy.

Even Gu Jiahe found it strange. Although Gu Dabao was brought back by Li Zhao, he acted as if Li Zhao didn’t exist every day. Except for occasionally pawing at his leg when there was no food in the bowl and Gu Jiahe was not at home, Gu Dabao was always focused on Gu Jiahe, as if he regarded him as his own father.

At first, Gu Jiahe was quite happy, but later he felt like he was going crazy every day.

Gu Dabao woke up punctually at five thirty every morning, then sat on Gu Jiahe’s body and scratched him with his paws to wake him up.

The purpose of waking up was simple: Gu Dabao wanted to go outside and run wildly.

Gu Jiahe tried to let Li Zhao take his place, but Gu Dabao didn’t like it. He directly hid behind the door with a big grievance, on the verge of tears.

Gu Jiahe couldn’t bear this, so he had to get up early every day, leash Gu Dabao, and take him out.

Gu Dabao strolled around the neighborhood. Despite his short legs, he ran as if he had been injected with nitrous oxide.

In the end, Gu Jiahe felt like he wasn’t walking him; it was the other way around.

On sunny days, it was bearable, but on rainy days, Gu Dabao would inexplicably get excited when he saw the rain, waking up even earlier.

Gu Jiahe tried to take him to the underground garage to run around to get through the rain, but Gu Dabao didn’t buy it at all.

In the end, they had to wear raincoats, one for each, and dash through the pouring rain.

When they returned, Gu Jiahe was exhausted. Looking at Gu Dabao’s legs, as dirty as if he had been digging a pit, he felt like he was about to collapse.

Fortunately, Gu Dabao had some conscience. He let Li Zhao handle the trivial matters like washing feet without much objection. Gu Jiahe hurriedly rushed back to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.

Since they got Gu Dabao, Gu Jiahe’s WeChat step count had consistently ranked first in his friend circle. His colleagues at the company were curious, coming over to ask him secretly if he had been to some special forces training camp.

But Gu Dabao did have some redeeming qualities. Sometimes Gu Jiahe felt that this puppy was quite understanding.

A month later, Li Zhao went on another business trip. With no one else at home, from that day on, Gu Jiahe clearly felt that when he came home and opened the door, Gu Dabao was much gentler towards him.

He would rub his small head against Gu Jiahe’s legs and then stand obediently by the door, waiting for him to change his shoes.

After Gu Jiahe finished dinner and changed into his home clothes, Gu Dabao would gently lie on his thighs, warming Gu Jiahe’s hands with his soft fur.

Originally, Gu Dabao slept in his little dog bed in the living room, but these days, seemingly aware that Li Zhao was not around, he boldly slept in the master bedroom.

Taking advantage of Gu Jiahe’s drowsiness, he would directly slip under the covers and lie at the foot of the bed.

Gu Jiahe was happy to have the warmth, rubbing Gu Dabao’s belly with his feet, sleeping even more soundly than usual.

This sleeping habit became a routine. Every night after ten o’clock, Gu Dabao would swagger into the master bedroom and slip under the covers smoothly.

A month later, when Li Zhao returned from his business trip and put away his luggage, he pushed open the bedroom door to see this scene—

A big fluffy back of the head, next to a small fluffy head.

The two were under a warm quilt, with Gu Jiahe holding Gu Dabao, sleeping peacefully.

After Li Zhao finished washing up and changed into his pajamas, when he returned to the bedroom, the two of them hadn’t moved from their position.

Li Zhao walked over gently and lifted the drowsy Gu Dabao out of the covers.

Gu Dabao seemed to sense the movement and barked softly in his sleep. This sound woke Gu Jiahe up.

He opened his eyes to see Li Zhao placing Gu Dabao on the carpet, covering him with a small towel.

“You weren’t supposed to be back the day after tomorrow, right?” Gu Jiahe’s voice was a bit muffled, not fully awake yet.

“I finished my work early, so I came back early.” Li Zhao pulled the blanket aside and slipped into bed. The side of the bed where he lay was still warm from Gu Dabao.

Once under the covers, Li Zhao’s hands naturally couldn’t stay still. With one hand, he pulled the still slightly drowsy Gu Jiahe’s waist, and with the other hand, he slipped his hand under his pajama hem.

Gu Jiahe finally woke up a bit and felt a bit wary. “Don’t be naughty, Dabao is right next to us.”

But Li Zhao didn’t stop his movements. “Then keep your voice down.”

Although Gu Jiahe resisted with a few words, his body couldn’t help but surrender. After all, it had been over a month since he had been intimate with the person in front of him. With a few gentle kneads from Li Zhao, Gu Jiahe turned into a puddle of mush.

He bit the corner of the blanket, suppressing his voice. “Be gentle.”

Li Zhao chuckled softly, “I’m already being gentle.”

At one point, Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but moan softly. Gu Dabao seemed to hear some movement and rolled over on the carpet, startling Gu Jiahe.

But Li Zhao mischievously pressed against his lower back.

In short, it was an overly beautiful and unbearable night. When Gu Jiahe woke up the next morning, his skin still retained the sensation left by Li Zhao’s touch, making him blush.

Sitting up, he looked over and saw Gu Dabao sleeping soundly on the carpet, seemingly oblivious to what had happened.

Naturally, as if nothing had happened, he pulled back the curtains and let the sunlight into the bedroom.

#The third heavy snowfall

After the onset of autumn, the weather in the northern city became colder. By November, the temperature had dropped to zero degrees Celsius.

Gu Jiahe quickly bought some nice dog clothes for Gu Dabao online. In the morning, he would dress him up before going out to prevent him from catching a cold.

After becoming a partner, Li Zhao had many new tasks to handle that he hadn’t encountered before. When he returned to the office, he found himself in endless meetings.

Usually, Gu Jiahe would come home from work first, then take a shower and sometimes order takeout or cook a meal when he was in a good mood for Li Zhao’s arrival.

Today was no exception. After arriving home, Gu Jiahe took a shower first and left his phone on the living room sofa.

Li Zhao had an important video conference in the evening, so he decided to video call Gu Jiahe. However, after several rings with no answer, he thought Gu Jiahe might be taking a shower and was about to hang up when the call suddenly connected.

But there was no one speaking on the other end. After calling out a few times, a furry little head appeared on the screen, followed by Gu Dabao sticking out his tongue and licking the camera, causing the image to become blurry.

Li Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle. A passing colleague saw it and jokingly asked, “What’s wrong, Li, did you win the lottery?”

Li Zhao shook his head. “Just calling the kid.”

The colleague was surprised and leaned over to take a look, seeing Gu Dabao’s chubby dog face appearing on the screen and barking at them.

Li Zhao looked at Gu Dabao and said, “Alright, tell your dad that I’ll be home a bit late tonight.”

Of course, Li Zhao wouldn’t actually let Gu Dabao pass on the message. He ended the video call and sent a text instead.

“I have a meeting tonight, probably won’t be home until around nine.”

About half an hour later, Gu Jiahe replied, “Got it.”

As he dried his hair with one hand, Gu Jiahe used the other to turn on the TV in the living room. Gu Dabao sensibly climbed onto the sofa and sat on his lap.

Gu Jiahe flipped through a few channels before settling on the local news channel. The evening news had just finished, and the weather forecast came on.

The gentle anchor stood in front of a weather map, pointing to an area on the screen. “As you can see, our city is likely to welcome the first snowfall early tonight or tomorrow. For those who want to see the snow, pay attention to the window tonight.”

Gu Jiahe subconsciously glanced at the window of the balcony. It was quiet outside, with no trace of snowflakes falling.

Two minutes later, he changed the channel, and coincidentally, a sports channel was broadcasting a soccer match. He watched absentmindedly.

Gu Dabao watched the twenty-something people running on the green field, becoming more and more drowsy. After a few grumbles, he began to feel sleepy, and his eyelids gradually drooped.

Listening to his snores, Gu Jiahe also felt a bit drowsy. After about ten minutes, both man and dog fell asleep on the sofa.

The TV showed an intense stage of the game, with both sides deadlocked. But in the living room outside the TV, it was unusually quiet, except for the commentary, only the sounds of two different breathing rhythms could be heard.

Li Zhao arrived home an hour later.

When he opened the door to the living room, he saw them both asleep on the sofa. Li Zhao tiptoed over, thinking about how to carry Gu Jiahe back to the bedroom without waking him up.

However, Gu Jiahe woke up before he could lift him and rubbed his eyes. “Meeting over?”

Li Zhao nodded.

Beside him, Gu Dabao also woke up, but his eyes were still dazed.

However, Gu Jiahe’s gaze lingered on Li Zhao’s shoulder. There was a faint trace of snow on the collar of his coat that hadn’t melted yet.

“Is it snowing outside?”

Li Zhao paused for a moment and pointed outside the window. “Yes, it started snowing just as I got back. It’s quite heavy.”

Gu Jiahe looked up and saw that the sky, which had been quiet just an hour ago, was now covered in heavy snow, obscuring the sky.

Without even bothering to put on his slippers, Gu Jiahe ran to the balcony, pushed open the half-open window, and reached out his hand.

Soon, a few white snowflakes drifted into his palm.

Gu Jiahe withdrew his hand and looked at it. “It really is snow. The first snow of the year came early this time.”

Gu Dabao was evidently more excited than Gu Jiahe. This was the first snow he had ever seen in this world. He raised his little head and excitedly bounced around on the balcony.

Gu Jiahe picked him up from the ground and looked outside through the window.

But just after looking for less than half a minute, Gu Dabao jumped back to the ground, startling Gu Jiahe.

Gu Dabao vigorously bumped his little legs against Gu Jiahe’s legs and barked several times, as if he had something to say. After pondering for half a minute, Gu Jiahe realized and asked him, “Do you want to go play in the snow?”

Gu Dabao immediately began scratching at Gu Jiahe’s pant legs with his paws, indicating strong agreement.

Gu Jiahe chuckled, picked him up, and headed to the hallway.

“It’s too cold outside, you two should wear more layers.” Li Zhao said as he put on the coat he had just taken off and then handed Gu Jiahe a thick sweater and a down jacket from the closet.

After Gu Jiahe put on his own clothes, he also dressed Gu Dabao.

The two of them, along with the dog, quickly got on the elevator downstairs.

Although it had only been snowing for an hour or two, there was already a thin layer of white snow on the lawn downstairs in the neighborhood.

Gu Dabao had never seen such a magical snow scene before, everything was covered in white snow. As soon as they stepped out of the unit door, he dashed off excitedly, running and jumping on the grass, leaving behind a string of round footprints.

Gu Jiahe ran after him, laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath.

“Are you happy, Dabao?”

“Woof woof!”

Li Zhao stood not far behind them, hands in his coat pockets, unable to help but laugh along.

He exhaled a breath, looked up at the snowflakes fluttering down, and thought to himself that this was the third heavy snowfall they had experienced together in their lives.

Through twists and turns, and despite everything. Fortunately, their wishes were finally fulfilled.

(END)