What Are Your Tastes? chapter 15

Is She His Girlfriend?

Both had eaten breakfast, but the newly made thick egg rolls weren’t much, so they shared them.

It was a leisurely Sunday. After eating, Lu Yunchu fastened a leash on Sabrina, intending to take her for a walk.

“Are you taking the dog out?” Zhou Yanchuan asked before heading back to his apartment.

“Yeah,” Lu Yunchu slung a small crossbody bag over his shoulder and picked up his phone from the table, “do you want to join?”

“Can I?”

“If you’re free.”

“I’m free,” Zhou Yanchuan agreed happily at the prospect of walking with Sabrina. “I’ll just change my shoes.” He had worn flip-flops to Lu Yunchu’s place in the morning, but for an outdoor activity like dog walking, sports shoes would be better.

Zhou Yanchuan was quick, taking only about half a minute, but when he returned to the door, he saw Lu Yunchu glaring at his phone.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Lu Yunchu was annoyed because he saw a message from Lin Yizhe.

【You can make tamagoyaki? Let’s have Japanese food sometime?】

He was furious, wondering why he hadn’t blocked  Lin Yizhe from his private circle when posting. He angrily typed in the chat box: 【What tamagoyaki? It’s just regular egg rolls】 and immediately locked his screen.

“Let’s go.” He picked up Sabrina’s leash and said to Zhou Yanchuan.

Once outside the building, Lu Yunchu walked ahead with his head down. When they were out of the complex, Zhou Yanchuan caught up: “Where are you walking the dog?”

“Sabrina doesn’t seem to like the yard,” he explained, “so we usually go outside.”

Lu Yunchu was also planning to stop by Ning Ruowei’s shop; she said she had some new items in. Her little shop was located somewhere between the cultural and creative district and Blue Bay, not far to walk. Although her designs were more trendy and suited for younger students, Lu Yunchu occasionally found a few pieces there.

“My friend’s shop is up ahead,” Lu Yunchu said, seeing the shop’s distinctive blue canopy, “do you want to take a look too?”

“Your friend?”

“Yeah, it’s her own brand design.”

“Is it men’s clothing?” Closer now, Zhou Yanchuan looked through the glass and felt the clothes didn’t seem like something a guy would wear.

“The tops are unisex, just different sizes,” Lu Yunchu glanced at him, “If you’re interested, you can come and pick something.”

“Ah?” Zhou Yanchuan wasn’t used to unisex styles of clothing, “I think I’ll pass. I’ll watch Sabrina for you.” Bringing the dog into the store didn’t seem appropriate.

Lu Yunchu noticed his slightly awkward expression and recalled their earlier interactions, realizing the issue: Zhou Yanchuan had very conservative tastes and wouldn’t accept overly trendy designs. Since that was the case, he didn’t want to force him.

“Alright, thanks.”

After Lu Yunchu went inside, Zhou Yanchuan had to wait near the entrance. However, with Sabrina accompanying him, he didn’t feel bored at all. But the styles of clothes sold in the shop, even just glancing at them, made him greatly surprised.

Especially the fake model right in front of him, the top was patched together with three different colors; the pants had irregular colored dots on both sides towards the bottom, looking like they were splattered with paint dots.

Would wearing this look good? Zhou Yanchuan seriously doubted it.

Looking at Lu Yunchu’s so-called friend again, it turned out to be a young girl. The two were chatting as if they were very close. Zhou Yanchuan couldn’t help but speculate if she was his girlfriend…

Little did he know, while he was secretly observing inside the shop, those two were also discussing him.

“When did you get so close to Mr. Zhou?” Ning Ruowei glanced outside from time to time.

“He’s my neighbor.” Lu Yunchu hadn’t mentioned this to her yet, and casually recounted what had happened a week ago.

“He walks the dog with you too?”

“It just happened,” Lu Yunchu turned away from the street-facing French windows and then looked back. “It seems he really likes Sabrina.”

Zhou Yanchuan answered a call, holding the phone in one hand and tightly gripping the leash in the other. Sabrina seemed impatient, fluttering its legs wanting to walk. Zhou Yanchuan took a few steps forward with it, and they got along well together.

“Why don’t you ask him if he wants a dog?” Ning Ruowei suggested.

Zhou Yanchuan hadn’t mentioned anything about having a dog. Liking something and being willing to keep it were two different things. Lu Yunchu and he weren’t close enough to casually make such a request.

“Let’s talk about it later,” seeing that Zhou Yanchuan had finished the call, he also withdrew his gaze, “What about you? How was yesterday?”

“Nothing special, just had a meal together,” Ning Ruowei said, her hand supporting her cheek on the table, “With her outgoing personality, even a normal meal shouldn’t have been so disappointing. Lu Yunchu guessed that An Yuan had said something pessimistic to her. Ning Ruowei clearly didn’t want to discuss it, so he kept quiet.

“Come see the new models?” She smiled again, “On the second floor.”

“Sure.”

“You go choose, I’ll check on your dog.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Yanchuan waited for a while, and Lu Yunchu didn’t come out, but the girl who was probably his girlfriend came out.

“Is this the dog Lu Yunchu picked up?” She greeted Zhou Yanchuan and squatted down, “I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Ah… yes, quite cute.”

Sabrina was indeed not afraid of people. When Ning Ruowei approached her, she didn’t hide, tilting her head and making murmuring sounds.

“Do you want to bring it inside to sit? Standing here is tiring,” Ning Ruowei suggested to Zhou Yanchuan after standing up.

“No need, it might affect your business.”

She didn’t insist further, playing with the little dog at the door. No wonder Lu Yunchu worried so much about it; Sabrina was really endearing.

Lu Yunchu picked two shirts and paid the bill before leaving. He took the dog leash from Zhou Yanchuan’s hand and they walked back together.

Zhou Yanchuan almost asked, “Is that your girlfriend?” Suddenly realizing that they were currently just ordinary neighbors, how could he directly inquire about someone else’s privacy?

But that girl and Lu Yunchu didn’t seem much like ordinary couples. Despite their intimacy, there was no hint of stickiness. Could it be that those who worked in art had a veteran approach to love?

After a moment of random thoughts, Zhou Yanchuan felt he was idle, unexpectedly worrying about how others fell in love.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing him slow down, Lu Yunchu stopped and asked.

“Oh, nothing, you’re walking a bit fast.”

“It’s dragging me along,” Lu Yunchu swung the leash in his hand, “Do you want to walk it? It’s quite a workout.”

“Okay!” Zhou Yanchuan was interested, but when he took the leash, he clearly felt a strong force pulling him forward. He finally understood why Lu Yunchu walked so fast, “Hey, wait for me.” He shouted at the small dog who was ignoring him.

Lu Yunchu laughed behind him, jogging to catch up.

Returning to the ninth floor of their apartment, it was almost noon. Lu Yunchu said goodbye to Zhou Yanchuan in front of his door.

The other stopped him.

“Mr. Lu, would you be interested in giving a lecture at the Experimental Primary School in Wen County?”