Convincing Oneself
Time seemed frozen, like someone had hit pause. People bustled in and out of the subway entrance—but it all felt like it didn’t exist.
It could’ve been a second, or it could’ve been a lifetime. Xia Xinghe held his breath, waiting for Bai Qingzhou’s answer. Bai Qingzhou stood silently, tall and still, with his hand hidden in his sleeve, clenched tightly.
“You two boys, don’t just stand blocking the elevator!”
A subway staffer with a red armband waved at them from below. “It’s rush hour now. If you’re not leaving, step aside. You’re in the way.”
Xia Xinghe snapped back to reality and quickly responded, “Sorry! We’ll go now.” He turned and smiled helplessly at Bai Qingzhou. “Then I’ll head off first. Maybe next time…”
The little dimple at the corner of his lips appeared again—burning itself into Bai Qingzhou’s heart.
The subway entrance was crowded with people. Xia Xinghe turned away, ready to vanish into the crowd. Just as he lifted his foot, Bai Qingzhou suddenly spoke.
“Would you be willing to take care of Bamboo?”
The moment the words landed, both of them stiffened slightly.
Bai Qingzhou turned his head away, quickly adding, “Just like the last worker—regular feeding and changing water. You’ll be paid per visit.”
“Don’t overthink it. I’m rarely home, and finding a new worker takes time. Also… Bamboo seems to like you.”
“You can think about it. Let me know by tomorrow at the latest.”
Before Xia Xinghe could answer, Bai Qingzhou abruptly turned around and left, almost as if fleeing.
His strides grew longer, passing corners and brushing past countless people. It wasn’t until he stepped into the entrance of the pet hospital that he finally slowed to a stop.
It was late at night, and the hospital was nearly empty. The vet examined Bamboo and confirmed it was just some surface wounds—nothing serious.
Bai Qingzhou thanked the doctor, took the medicine, and went to retrieve Bamboo. The dog was lying in a small kennel waiting for him, and the moment he returned, Bamboo limped toward him, whining as if begging for hugs and affection.
Bai Qingzhou crouched down and gently stroked its head, whispering softly, “What am I even doing?”
“Awuu?”
Bamboo blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding what his owner meant.
Because of the wound check and treatment, the fur on Bamboo’s left hind leg had been shaved off. It was uncomfortable and made him feel pitiful. Now that his owner was finally here, he rubbed up against Bai Qingzhou eagerly. One of his paws, still damp with medication, landed on Bai Qingzhou’s knee and instantly left a soggy, dirty mark on his pants.
Bamboo had moved so quickly that Bai Qingzhou didn’t have time to stop him. Seeing the dog’s aggrieved little whimpers, he could only grimace and push the paw away. Then he stood up, attached the leash, and led him out of the hospital.
“Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Bai Qingzhou muttered to himself, frowning. “Xia Xinghe’s probably better at handling things like this.”
…..
Meanwhile, the subway was packed. By the time Xia Xinghe got home, it was already ten o’clock.
The lights were off and the room was dark. He flipped the switch as he entered, threw his backpack onto the sofa, and flopped down himself.
There was still half a bottle of soda water on the table—same brand he had bought after leaving Bai Qingzhou’s place the other day. He had forgotten about it until this morning, took a couple sips, and left it aside again.
Sitting on the sofa now, Xia Xinghe picked it up and took another drink. He still stood by his original verdict: awful taste.
He had no idea why Bai Qingzhou had such strange tastes—to actually stock this in his fridge.
He tossed the soda water aside again, grabbed a cushion to hug, and sank into the couch, finally ready to sort through the chaos of the day.
The daytime had actually been pleasant. He’d gone to a nearby stray animal shelter to volunteer, collected a lot of material for his writing, and even met a warm and quirky couple.
But then the evening turned into utter chaos. First, he somehow ended up at Bai Qingzhou’s house, witnessed Bamboo being beaten by the part time worker, and then, in a rush of righteous fury, added Bai Qingzhou on WeChat and staged a “rescue the dog” mission.
And the most unbelievable part came after: Bai Qingzhou actually apologized. He explained that naming the dog Bamboo wasn’t meant as an insult. Then—he even asked Xia Xinghe if he’d be willing to help take care of Bamboo.
On the way back, it had been peak rush hour, and he’d gotten stepped on multiple times on the subway—his foot still hurt. Xia Xinghe could hardly believe the whole day hadn’t been some ridiculous dream.
Did he want to take care of Bamboo?
Honestly? Yes.
Bamboo was his love-at-first-sight dream dog. Even now, he still liked Bamboo a lot—beautiful, well-behaved, irresistibly lovable. If only his owner weren’t Bai Qingzhou.
All Bai Qingzhou had done was casually ask, and he’d practically leapt at the opportunity. It felt like he was groveling, offering himself up to be mocked.
Torn with indecision, Xia Xinghe’s mind wandered, naturally replaying scenes of his time with Bamboo.
The cold aloofness at first meeting. The uncontainable joy when it pounced on him. The obedient posture lying on the grass. And… the trembling restraint when it was being hurt but still refused to lash out at a human.
Something suddenly flashed through his mind—and this time, Xia Xinghe caught it.
He jumped off the couch, not even bothering with his slippers, and rushed to his desk to turn on his computer.
He knew now! He finally knew why he’d been stuck in his writing!
Though today’s mess wasn’t resolved, Bamboo’s experience had given him fresh inspiration.
He wanted to write about a cold, reclusive dog who is gradually warmed by human kindness and eventually becomes a lifelong companion. He had already envisioned the plot and ending clearly—but he had overlooked one vital element.
Personality is shaped by environment, and choices stem from past experiences. This applies to both people and dogs. His writing had stalled because he was too focused on the dog’s current traits without deeply exploring the roots of its personality and its transformation.
Xia Xinghe opened a new document and began typing furiously. In no time, he had written nearly five thousand words as a character background for his fictional dog.
Time flew by as he remained completely absorbed. He edited and polished the text, and when he finally typed the last period, he exhaled sharply.
So satisfying.
That feeling—fingers dancing across the keyboard like his meridians had been cleared—was so exhilarating, he couldn’t come down from the high.
After a brief break, he double-checked everything, then renamed the document: “Wang Across the Human World.”
The name had just come to him. Dogs go “wang wang” after all—it was cute and perfectly reflected the theme of the story.
Satisfied, Xia Xinghe closed his computer, leaned back happily on the sofa, casually took out his phone and opened it—only to realize it was already 3 a.m.
Three in the morning! Bai Qingzhou had said he’d reply tonight!
Xia Xinghe jolted awake, opened WeChat, but his message list was empty; no one had messaged him.
He tapped on that familiar yet distant avatar, scrolling almost unconsciously, and entered Bai Qingzhou’s Moments.
The most recent post had been made just half an hour ago.
[@Bai: (picture) Such a handful.]The photo showed Bamboo at the vet. The fur on his back left leg was shaved clean, exposing pink skin. His big ears drooped, and his moist eyes were clouded with a layer of mist—he looked pitiful and wronged.
Not knowing how Bamboo was doing, Xia Xinghe hesitated—then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He hurriedly opened the chat window and sent Bai Qingzhou a message.
[Little Bamboo]: I’ve made up my mind, I agree.[Little Bamboo]: But don’t get the wrong idea—I’m only doing this to find writing inspiration.
[Little Bamboo]: No need to pay me, it’s not about the money.
After a moment’s thought, he added some pixelation and sent over a screenshot of the document.
[Little Bamboo]: [Image] Look, I wrote this today. All thanks to Bamboo.Getting inspiration for writing was a valid enough reason, wasn’t it?
Anyway, Xia Xinghe had successfully convinced himself.