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The fence surrounding the Shen household was one of the most well kept borders in the neighborhood. No dead leaves littered the chain links, no ivy dared to climb to new heights, even the wooden posts were as well kept and orderly as the day they were hammered into the ground. By all accounts, the fence did exactly what it was meant to do: keep the riff-raff out.
Bingpup was ashamed to admit that it had been succeeding effortlessly.
His latest attempt at defeating the accursed fence was to try and dig his way under it. To his credit, he came very close to making a dent big enough for both him and his fluff to fit. Unfortunately, his moment of victory was interrupted by Shen Qingqiu, who had apparently decided that it wasn't enough to simply hate the world from the comfort of his home. One spray of the garden hose wasn't quite enough to scare Bingpup off from his goal, but the sound of the hose, Shen Qingqiu's yells, and Bingpup's yelping was enough to draw Yue Qingyuan out.
The inside of his dog house was becoming all too familiar a sight to Bingpup. Every failed attempt seemed to land him there, leash tied to a pole, well out of reach of Shen Qingqiu's stupid precious fence.
Bingpup whined, hiding his front paws underneath his chin. Curse his tiny beans! If only he was a bigger pup, he could've dug fast enough to reach his goal.
"Bingpup."
Bingpup could almost hear him now.
"Bingpup."
The sweetest voice in the world, even in the abyss of failure, his voice was like bright light shining through the darkness.
"Bingpup, are you ignoring this cat? This cat promised to be in the garden after his midmorning nap. If Bingpup does not wish to talk, then this cat will go take his third nap early."
Wait...
"Nyazun!" Bingpup shot to attention.
Sitting on the other side of the fence, long tail gracefully curled around his paws, Shen Nyuan blinked in acknowledgement.
Just the sight of the elegant white cat was enough to send Bingpup's tail in a wag that sounded rhythmically from the inside of the dog house. Shen Nyuan never failed to send his heart racing. From their very first meeting, the white cat had held his attention effortlessly in his soft paws.
Before Yue Qingyuan had taken him in, back when he was a pup in not only name but stature, Bingpup walked the streets hungry and alone. As a newborn, he had been fished out of the river in a small basin and found himself in the care of an elderly hen whose egg laying days were long done.
For a little while, he lived happily under her wing until the owners of the chicken coup had decided that the novelty of a hen raising a puppy had run its course. They had taken his mother out of the coup and he never saw her again.
Without her protection, the rest of the hens chased Bingpup away from their eggs and he aimlessly wandered in search of food. Being so small, he was unable to search through trash cans as other strays did and the food that he did manage to find on the streets often lead to only a few bites before another animal would swat him out of the way or a human would chase him off.
It was one of those occurrences that lead Bingpup to his Nyazun.
Bingpup had barely gotten a mouthful of the discarded carton of fries when the flock of pigeons descended in a flurry of feathers and spite. The majority of the pigeons went straight for the food, but some had decided that tormenting a puppy was far more fulfilling than a full stomach.
Sharp beaks sent Bingpup fleeing to a part of the town that he had never been in before. The houses were neat and orderly, with trashcans that looked impossible to scratch, let alone knock over. Bingpup launched himself through one of the holes of a fence, wiggling his rear to freedom when it briefly caught. The birds simply flew over the fence and pecked at him just as viciously in the human's garden as they did when they were on the sidewalk.
Bingpup curled into himself, shivering in terror. While he dearly missed his hen mother, he did not expect to see her again so soon. He hoped that she would find it in her heart to forgive her useless pup for failing her.
A mighty hiss broke through the chaos. The birds let out startled noises as something moved over Bingpup's tiny form. Furious yowls drove off the pigeons until Bingpup could no longer hear the flapping of their wings. Dazed, he lifted his head.
A white cat was standing between him and the pigeons that were growing smaller in the distance. The fur on its body had puffed out so considerably that Bingpup could barely see the pale green ribbon tied around its neck.
The white cat turned to him, lips still curled back in a snarl. Bingpup tried to make himself smaller with a plaintive whine. The cat's ears flicked upright.
"Are you all right? Did those birds hurt you?"
The cat bent its head down until all Bingpup could see was its soft pink nose sniffing at him. After a careful assessment, the cat's tongue ran along one of the injuries on Bingpup's paw.
"Don't be afraid. This Shen Nyuan is the master of Qing Jing garden, and you have nothing to fear under my watch."
Bingpup's little heart trembled sweetly.
From that moment on, the pup devoted his life to his Nyazun. What man's best friend? Bingpup's eyes held no other than Shen Nyuan.
For many days, Bingpup lived secretly in the garden shed of the Shen household. His Nyazun couldn't spend all of his time with him, as he had many important Feline Duties to attend to, but every moment he had to spare saw him out in the garden cultivating the little pup into a respectable canine.
Shen Nyuan was fed his meals in porcelain bowls befitting one of his status, so he would make many trips between his house and the garden shed carrying mouthful after mouthful of food. Bingpup did not mind in the least, and would pass the wait between mouthfuls fetching the prettiest petals from the garden for Shen Nyuan's delicate beans to pad onto once he reentered the shed.
Alas, it was not meant to last. Eventually Shen Nyuan's human, Shen Qingqiu, went in search of what was balding his prized flowers only to find Bingpup gnawing a tulip stem free. He could still recall the human's startled shriek and the splash of Shen Qingqiu's morning tea.
The commotion attracted the attention of Shen Qingqiu's neighbor. Yue Qingyuan burst into his backyard to see Shen Qingqiu holding a soaked puppy by the scruff with a look of utter disgust marring his face. Shen Nyuan was frozen at the doorway to the backyard, a small pile of kibble at his paws.
Shen Qingqiu's cold eyes met Yue Qingyuan's from across the yard.
"Your problem now," he declared, dropping Bingpup onto Yue Qingyuan's side of the fence.
To humanity's credit, Yue Qingyuan did take responsibility and immediately adopted Bingpup as his dog. But Bingpup could not forget the sight of his Nyazun watching him be carried off, the fence that had kept Qing Jing garden secluded to themselves becoming a barrier between them.
Bingpup had long outgrown the size he was when he first made his way into the Shen's yard. As Yue Qingyuan's dog, he was able to see Shen Nyuan every day, but only through the metal of the fence. He had to push his snout through the links of the fence just to sniff at his Nyazun. Gone were the days of sleeping curled against Shen Nyuan's warmth in the light of the sun.
Bingpup had tried many times to overcome the fence. Gnawing at the metal, scratching at the posts, running from one end of the yard to the other to gain enough momentum and ram into the thing keeping him from Shen Nyuan. Howling didn't help at all, as either Shen Qingqiu would come out to tell his human to put a muzzle on "that beast" or Yue Qingyuan would pick him up and bring him into the house to console him with treats and petting.
Now even digging had failed, and yet again his Nyazun watched him strain against the pull of the leash to get as close as possible.
"This cat apologies on behalf of his human. Shen Qingqiu can be..." one of Shen Nyuan's delicate ears flicked to the side momentarily, "...difficult, even at the best of times."
"This pup is in perfect health, Nyazun!" Bingpup shook himself for emphasis, sending water droplets flying from his fluff. "A little water won't stop me!"
Shen Nyuan's ears slicked back onto his head. His furry face didn't show a trace of emotion, but his tail betrayed him as it twitched from side to side.
"This cat must admit that he does not know what Bingpup hopes to accomplish. Surely Yue Qingyuan's yard is to his liking? It may not be as fragrant as my own Qing Jing garden, but it seems to be a good place for a growing pup."
"This dog could care less about the yard!" Bingpup cried. "Whether he's in the yard, or the garden, or even at the vet, this Bingpup will only be happy if he is with his Nyazun!"
Shen Nyuan's tail stilled, his eyes as wide as his food dish as he took in Bingpup's declaration. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded to himself.
For as long as Bingpup had known Shen Nyuan, he had never seen the white cat even pounce after an insect. Shen Nyuan lived a sedentary life, and he liked it that way. So Bingpup couldn't restrain his startled bark when Shen Nyuan bunched in on himself and launched to the top of one of the fence posts.
The white cat scrambled under the worried eyes of the pup, but managed to claw his way over to the other side of the fence. Shen Nyuan barely restrained a hiss as the landing jolted his poor bones.
"Nyazun, Nyazun! You're here!" Bingpup was so frantic as he darted about that the pup seemed in danger of strangling himself on the end of his leash.
Wary of being bowled over by an excited pupper, Shen Nyuan sat just outside of Bingpup's reach and placed one pink paw pad against the dog's snout. Instantly, Bingpup went quiet, obediently sitting back on his haunches.
"This cat... no, I feel the same way. Whether it is my garden or your yard, no matter where you want to go, this cat will accompany you."
Shocked beyond words, a sky full of stars glittered within Bingpup's black eyes.
When an apologetic Yue Qingyuan came into his backyard, a bag of dog treats in hand, he was greeted by the sight his adorable pup napping contently in the sunlight, with a white cat curled up asleep on his back.