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Disaster had always lived in Shi Wudu's house, and its name was Shi Qingxuan. Or, to be more precise, his irrepressible enthusiasm and selfless zeal for helping everyone and anyone.
This time, he had decided to "help around the house" precisely when Shi Wudu was drowning in work, spending all his time either at the office or on endless business trips. And all it took was for Shi Wudu to mention in front of Shi Qingxuan that for a whole month now he hadn't been able to so much as eat a proper meal, let alone sleep for five minutes without another call warning that without his oversight the company's affairs were sliding straight into Diyu, all trade routes would grind to a halt, and they'd only manage to deliver their cargo on schedule with divine intervention.
And while Shi Wudu could still accept, with a touch of irony, that his colleagues referred to his involvement in solving work problems as "divine intervention," Qingxuan's help confidently rivalled the demonic kind.
So as soon as Shi Wudu returned home, he was greeted by the all-pervasive — and entirely expected — mess.
The first thing that caught the eye was the furniture, rearranged in some mysterious, chaotic order. Shi Qingxuan insisted that "it's much more harmonious this way." In this new harmony, Shi Wudu had already tripped over an armchair twice and over his own patience three times.
But that was only the beginning.
The half-disassembled dishwasher took up nearly the entire kitchen floor, awaiting a repairman, and water was dripping suspiciously from the countertops and cabinets. The dishes in the cupboard had been washed so thoroughly that the water had dried on them in artistic streaks. Looking at this disaster, Shi Wudu calculated, without any pleasure, how much time a second round of cleaning would take.
The wardrobes were in chaos, too. And the crowning touch was the only dry item of clothing he could still somehow put on — a fluffy, pink-tinged bathrobe.
Shi Wudu let out a bitter sigh. Once, it had been impeccably white, but Qingxuan, the youngest son of the Shi family and therefore everyone's darling, had never been taught to do household chores. And his overwhelming enthusiasm couldn't have told him that washing bright colours with whites was a terrible idea.
Shi Wudu should have been angry. But he didn't know how to be angry at his younger brother. Shi Qingxuan always meant well, and the fact that the results were... unconventional wasn't his fault. At least, that was how Shi Wudu justified it to himself. And so he was left with no choice but to resign himself once again, put on the once-beloved — now ridiculous and pink — bathrobe, and, with his head held high, head for the door. Someone had been persistently hammering on it for a good twenty minutes now, despite the lack of any response from Shi Wudu.
The uninvited guest irritated him no less than the mess. And who on earth could have shown up so early, Shi Wudu wondered. On his only day off!
Shi Wudu flung the door open, ready to unleash his pent-up displeasure on the insolent caller — and met the mocking gaze of an old friend.
"It suits you," Pei Ming snorted with laughter.
Shi Wudu didn't even bat an eye. Impulsiveness rarely served him well, but this time he couldn't help himself. In one motion, he pulled off the bathrobe, stepped over it, and without looking back, walked into the living room, then threw Pei Ming a curt, deadpan:
"Come in."
Now, schooled by his morning encounters with "harmony," he sank unerringly into an armchair and looked wearily at his guest, propping his head on his hand.
"So, what did you want?"
"I think you should put something on, after all," Pei Ming grinned with an expression that suggested he absolutely wasn't insisting. "It would be a shame if your delicate skin got scratched by little Pei's claws."
"Whose?"
The answer was a fast-moving fluffy projectile. A small beagle, its mouth open in wild excitement, was tearing towards him at full speed. Pei Ming barely managed to catch the puppy by its pink collar — a shade suspiciously matching the bathrobe.
"Slow down, xiao Pei," he laughed, ruffling the pet's head. "Allow me to introduce you. Xiao Pei, this arrogant, shameless man is Shi Wudu, my excellent comrade. Wudu, this is xiao Pei, our new pet."
"Our?" Shi Wudu clarified sceptically, making it clear that there could be no talk of any "our."
"Of course!" Pei Ming confirmed, utterly unruffled.
The puppy ignored the tone, yipped joyfully, and reached towards him with a curious black nose. This puppy had no less energy than the all-helping Shi Qingxuan, and Shi Wudu eventually got up and went to the hallway to retrieve his bathrobe. If this puppy did decide to jump on him, at least he'd finally have a reason to throw out that ridiculous pink thing.
Once again, Pei Ming couldn't hide a smile at the sight of the bathrobe, only refraining from comment under Shi Wudu's sharp glare and raising his hands in a peacemaking gesture. The puppy, meanwhile, sensing freedom, began bustling about happily, sniffing out its new territory.
"Keep him close to you," Shi Wudu warned, frowning.
"He'll learn restraint yet."
"With an owner like you, he never will," Shi Wudu retorted. "So why did you drag him here?"
"I couldn't leave him alone." Pei Ming raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if it were self-evident. "Xuan Ji has completely lost her mind — decided to resort to blackmail. I don't know where she got a litter of beagle puppies, but I wasn't about to let her drown them in front of me as a demonstration. I've already placed a couple — one of them, by the way, your younger brother happily took in. And I kept this one for myself; he's going to help me solve crimes. He won't make a police dog, but he'll surely make an excellent companion! He's already watched all the Police Story films with me, Chungking Express, and..."
"You'll spoil him rotten," Shi Wudu cut him off, having no desire to listen yet again to Pei Ming's endless list of favourite films.
"That's what I have you for," Pei Ming declared self-assuredly, slapping his knee.
Shi Wudu frowned in confusion.
"You're good at this stuff!" Pei Ming repeated, slapping his knee with self-assurance.
Shi Wudu smiled indulgently. Or at least, he tried to.
"I don't train dogs, a-Ming," he replied. As if he didn't have enough on his plate! His annual reports were overdue, several major deals loomed on the horizon, and Pei Ming was suggesting that he, the head of a huge corporation, should fuss over a puppy.
"You managed it with me."
Shi Wudu rolled his eyes. He didn't have to guess what kind of expression had accompanied those words.
"It didn't work well, seeing as you still haven't developed a conscience. No!"
The little beagle, who had been rubbing against his legs, attempted to jump onto his lap, but under Shi Wudu's stern gaze, it retreated and sat down beside him. Its short tail whizzed from side to side as if wound up.
Pei Ming chuckled.
"See? You're doing great!" Pei Ming remarked, pleased. "He clearly likes you. Or your bathrobe. He loves everything pink."
"Dogs can't see the red spectrum."
"But it's pink!"
"Get out of my sight."
"So, you agree?"
"Pei Ming!"
But he was already backing towards the door, beaming a triumphant smile.
"I knew I could count on you."
"At least give him a different name!" Shi Wudu threw out. "I'm not calling him the same thing as you."
In reply, Pei Ming merely bent down and brushed his lips fleetingly against the top of his head — and, laughing, dodged the pillow flying at him.
"I'll call," he said with a smile still plastered to his face, making a swift escape out the door.
Shi Wudu exhaled, rubbing his temple pensively.
As if Shi Qingxuan weren't enough — the one who, ever since childhood, had been forever dragging home either injured birds, or abandoned kittens, or a stray dog who turned out not to be a stray at all, but a thinly veiled manipulation to get acquainted with some sleepy-looking guy. Whether it was his younger brother or his best friend, both apparently believed they could make a nanny out of Shi Wudu for their charges with complete impunity.
Except Shi Wudu couldn't stand animals!
He ought to find this dog a new home immediately, but xiao Pei was gazing at him, mesmerised, with big, honest eyes — as if his entire little world was already focused on a single person.
"Xiao Pei," Shi Wudu said firmly.
The beagle yipped joyfully in response and sat up straighter, continuing to wait for instructions with its mouth slightly open.
A bit like Qingxuan, the thought flashed through Shi Wudu's mind. There really was something cute about the white patch splitting that long muzzle in two. And the floppy ears gave him a sort of childlike innocence.
But Shi Wudu immediately pushed those thoughts aside and said:
"Let's go for a walk. And afterwards, you'll help me sort out this mess."
Xiao Pei bounced up joyfully, with a playful gleam in his eyes, as if that were exactly what he'd been waiting for. This puppy had so much energy that Shi Wudu had time to gloomily estimate just how much mess this new pet of Pei Ming's — theirs — would bring into his life.
And for some reason, for the first time that day, the corners of his lips twitched, almost imperceptibly.