Chapter Eleven: Li Jingru's Little Pet

  At night, Lin Xiaoyu, who had finished her evening self-study, was in her small room satisfying her desire to dunk with a tennis ball on the small hoop. Lin's mother knocked on Lin Xiaoyu's door and said that Li Jingru had arrived.

  Lin Xiaoyu found it a bit strange that Li Jingru came to find her now. Lin Xiaoyu saw that Li Jingru, who hadn't changed out of her school uniform yet, had come to her room, with eyes red from crying and a few clear tears still hanging on her cheeks.

  "What's wrong, Xiaoru? Why are you crying?" Lin Xiaoyu had never seen her childhood friend Xiaoru look so heartbroken before, and she couldn't help but sound a bit urgent.

  "Xiao Xing is dead?" Lin Xiaoyu was also a bit surprised at the news, and Lin Xiaoyu felt a little sad about Xiao Xing's death.

  Li Jing nodded with red eyes.

  "Little Star" is a little turtle.

  When she was very young, Lin Xiaoyu became obsessed with watching the animated series "Ninja Turtles". She fell in love with the four turtle warriors and begged her mother to buy her three small turtles to raise in her own room. However, Lin Xiaoyu, who was careless and forgetful, couldn't even take care of herself, let alone the three small turtles she was raising.

  Those three little turtles were occasionally taken out of the small fish tank by Lin Xiaoyu to play, forcing the three little turtles to play racing games, or turning them over one by one on the table so that their limbs could not crawl on the ground. Moreover, the playful Lin Xiaoyu often forgot to feed and change water on time, so these three little turtles, known as the longest-lived animals on earth, could not withstand this living environment. After a period of time, only one of the three little turtles, called "Little Star", who was more resilient, survived.

  As Lin Xiaoyu's interest in the little turtle gradually faded with time, the little turtle named "Xiao Xing" also moved to Li Jingru's room along with its goldfish tank, becoming Li Jingru's new pet.

  For the little turtle called "Little Star", being able to escape from Lin Xiaoyu's small magical palm was a great happiness, and becoming Li Jingru's careful and considerate little pet was an extremely lucky fate.

  Under Li Jingru's careful care, the little turtle called "Xiao Xing" lived in Li Jingru's small room aquarium for six years. The little turtle's body also grew from its original egg size to as big as an adult's palm. Although occasionally it was still taken out of the aquarium by Lin Xiaoyu who came to play with Li Jingru and played with it, compared to being tormented in Lin Xiaoyu's room, Li Jingru's room was absolutely a paradise for this little turtle called "Xiao Xing".

  "The little star" turtle's departure was a slightly painful thing for Lin Xiaoyu, but for Li Jingru it was like losing a good friend of many years.

  For this little animal living under the same roof as her, Li Jingru is very fond of it. In addition to regular feeding every day, Li Jingru often talks about her own girlhood secrets with "Xiao Xing".

  This little turtle, who hid its head in its own small shell, became the best listener to Li Jingru's heart affairs. Although it never made a sound or gave any opinions, Li Jingru liked having someone she could confide her secrets to. Gradually, Li Jingru treated this "Little Star" turtle as an intimate friend, and every time something happy or unhappy happened, she would softly tell it in her own room.

  Li Jingru found that "Xiao Xing" the little turtle had become somewhat different recently, and when feeding it, it didn't have its usual vitality to rush over and eat. After finishing self-study tonight, Li Jingru fed "Xiao Xing" again and discovered that it had lost its vital energy...

  Li Jingru had never experienced the loss of a life before her eyes, and for a small turtle that had lived with her under the same roof for six years, listening to its own heartbeat every day, Li Jingru's grief was beyond words.

  Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru took flashlights and ran downstairs to bury "Little Star" in the small empty space where they used to plant flowers when they were young.

  This small garden is a small open space next to the garage under Lin Xiaoyu's building, on this square meter or so of open space, Li Jingru has planted bright red roses, fragrant and enchanting peonies. Now, in the part of this open space that is close to the wall of the house, there is a small chrysanthemum still blooming, with only a few golden yellow flowers exuding a faint fragrance in the dark night.

  Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru buried the little turtle under this small chrysanthemum, and on the newly paved soil, Li Jingru placed a rain flower stone the size of a goose egg that the little turtle liked to lean against for rest. In front of the rain flower stone were several freshly picked small chrysanthemums.

  This was the first time Li Jingru felt such pain from losing a life in her own life, and young Li Jingru could only bid farewell to her beloved pet with those lines of clear tears.

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at this small empty space, and her heart was also a bit uncomfortable.

  Lin Xiaoyu had once buried many seeds of hope here. She remembered that when she was a child, after watching the calabazas jumping out of the gourd, Lin Xiaoyu filled with hope found the gourd seeds and buried them here, but the place where the seeds were sown never grew any seedlings; After eating those delicious lychees, she planted the lychee kernels here, but the newly grown saplings wilted on the ground in just a few days.

  Now Lin Xiaoyu's age has already understood that the kind of gourd will never jump out of the gourd doll, and also knows that using lychee kernel is not a fresh and beautiful lychee.

  Lin Xiaoyu watched as Li Jingru buried the small turtle, which seemed to be sleeping, in the ground. He clearly knew that Xiao Ru was not burying hope like a seed in the earth, but rather preserving a thought, a memory, in this land filled with memories...

  The next afternoon after school, Lin Xiaoyu did not go to the basketball court with Yang Tianxiao as usual. Lin Xiaoyu rode his own mountain bike to a flower and bird market in Feicui City.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw Li Jingru's so sad last night, she felt very sad too. So Lin Xiaoyu decided to buy another small turtle for Li Jingru today. Hope Li Jingru will feel better when seeing the new little turtle.

  Lin Xiaoyu walked back and forth in a few goldfish shops, wanting to find a small turtle that looked similar to "Little Star", but the result was not satisfactory. Lin Xiaoyu couldn't find a small turtle that looked similar to "Little Star" in several shops.

  Lin Xiaoyu walked into a store at the end of the market with some disappointment, but upon entering, she found that this store was not selling goldfish or turtles, but rather a pet store for cats and dogs. Lin Xiaoyu turned around in disappointment, preparing to leave the store, when suddenly two "meows" sounded from beside her. Lin Xiaoyu curiously looked towards the source of the sound.

  The sound was coming from a small cardboard box placed on the floor in the corner of the wall, and Lin Xiaoyu saw that inside the box were five very small puppies, all of whom were curled up with their eyes closed, sleeping. Only one of them, a golden-haired puppy, was sitting at the edge of the box, its round head held high, with a pair of small ears perked up, and a pair of big, shiny black eyes curiously looking at Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu thought these puppies were very cute and reached into the cardboard box to pet them.

  The crouching dog seemed to be very afraid of Lin Xiaoyu's unfamiliar hand, staring at her with its black eyes and perking up the two ears on its small round head.

  Although the little dog was extremely afraid and stuck to the edge of the cardboard box, making "wow wow" sounds from time to time, it was still picked up by Lin Xiaoyu from the cardboard box.

  This little dog was extremely small, its body wasn't even half the size of a basketball. Lin Xiaoyu easily scooped up this egg-yolk-yellow little ball-like dog into her arms.

  The little dog in Lin Xiaoyu's arms seemed to be very afraid, its body trembling in her hands. Lin Xiaoyu slowly stroked the puppy's head with her hand, and the soft fur made her feel extremely comfortable.

  The little dog was no longer so afraid under Lin Xiaoyu's gentle touch and its body stopped trembling.

  "What kind of dog is this?" Lin Xiaoyu asked the shop owner.

  The owner of this pet store is a woman in her thirties, who saw Lin Xiaoyu holding the little dog and said: "This is the offspring of our family's Golden Retriever and a hunting dog. Our Golden Retriever died soon after giving birth, so we kept these five puppies."

  "I'll take this little dog then, how much?" Lin Xiaoyu asked, pointing to the small dog in her arms.

  "Ah, this mutt isn't a purebred and isn't worth much money. If you like it that much, I'll give it to you." The middle-aged woman saw how fond Lin Xiaoyu was of the dog and gave it to her. "However, this little dog hasn't been weaned yet and needs careful care from you. You must take good care of it."

  "Thank you, Auntie." Lin Xiaoyu was overjoyed when the shop owner aunt gave this puppy to herself.

  "Well then I'll buy some dog food to take back." Lin Xiaoyu also felt a bit embarrassed about taking something for free. He took out the money he had prepared to buy a small turtle and handed it over to the shop owner.

  The woman shopkeeper was delighted to see Lin Xiaoyu being so sensible and gave her a lot of dog food, and also told her in detail about the things that need attention when raising dogs.

  Li Jingru sat in front of her small desk, the sadness brought by "Little Star" leaving had not completely dissipated. Li Jingru looked at the empty goldfish tank on the windowsill in her room and felt that her room was no longer as lively as it used to be.

  At this time, someone suddenly knocked on Li Jingru's door and woke her up from her thoughts.

  Li Jingru opened the door to her room and saw Lin Xiaoyu. Li Jingru saw that Lin Xiaoyu was carrying a small snake skin bag, and walked into her own room. Li Jingru found it strange that Lin Xiaoyu's behavior today, after school this afternoon he disappeared without a trace, and she didn't see him even when she went to the basketball court where he usually played. But seeing Lin Xiaoyu come to find her at this moment, the sadness in her heart due to "Little Star" leaving seemed to fade away.

  Lin Xiaoyu put the snakeskin bag in her hand on the floor of Li Jingru's room and said mysteriously, "Jingru, guess what this is?"

  Li Jingru was confused by Lin Xiaoyu's mysterious attitude and shook her head saying, "I have no idea."

  "Then you open it and take a look." Lin Xiaoyu still didn't reveal the answer.

  Li Jing slowly moved her hand closer to the zipper of the bag, and just as Li Jing's hand touched the bag, the bag suddenly moved on its own, scaring Li Jing into immediately withdrawing her small hand.

  "Don't be afraid, Xiao Ru, it's okay. Open and take a look." Lin Xiaoyu saw Li Jingru being scared by the moving bag, so she continued to encourage her.

  Li Jingru calmed down and believed that Xiaoyu wouldn't deceive her own sister, so she unzipped the zipper of the bag.

  The bag opened. A ball of light yellow fluffy thing appeared in the bag. Li Jingru saw a small dog with droopy ears, round head, small body and short tail.

  "Wow, Xiao Yu, where did this little dog come from?" Li Jingru immediately hugged the cute little dog in her arms as soon as she saw it inside the bag.

  Lin Xiaoyu knew that Li Jingru would like this little dog, and they had been playing together since childhood. Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru were very familiar with each other's preferences.

  Lin Xiaoyu saw Li Jing, who had been in a bad mood lately, looking so happy at this time and felt happy himself. He looked at the little dog that was a bit scared in Li Jing's arms and said: "I saw it this afternoon after school, the owner of the store gave it to me, do you like it, Little Jing?"

  "Ah, I like it." Li Jingru gently stroked the small dog in her arms, which was still trembling slightly.

  Li Jingru raised her head, looked at Lin Xiaoyu and said seriously: "Thank you, Xiaoyu." Li Jingru knew that this little dog was bought by Xiaoyu to comfort herself for the departure of "Little Star".

  "What's there to thank? I just happened to see this cute little dog and bought it. You know I've always liked dogs." Lin Xiaoyu said.

  Li Jing looked at Lin Xiaoyu quietly for a few seconds and didn't say anything. She was very clear about Lin Xiaoyu, whether what Lin Xiaoyu said in front of her was true or false she could tell at once. Li Jing was very grateful to Lin Xiaoyu for giving herself this little dog.

  "What kind of dog is this?"

  "Huh? The shop owner said this is a descendant of Golden Retriever and Hunting Dog."

  "How big is it?"

  "It seems like it hasn't been a month yet."

  "What does it eat?"

  "I bought dog food for it."

  Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru started bustling around the little dog, Li Jingru and Lin Xiaoyu carried the little dog to the balcony, used a basin to fetch hot water, and began to give the little dog a bath.

  The little dog became clean and fragrant under Li Jingru's careful washing and Lin Xiaoyu's busy help. Li Jingru carefully blew dry the dog's fur with a hair dryer, making it look even more adorable than before.

  Li Jingru found a small cardboard box, cut open one side of the box with scissors to form a square hole, and lined it with a soft towel, so that the little dog had a cozy little nest.

  Because Lin Xiaoyu's mother was a little afraid of dogs, even though this cute little dog was not much bigger than a palm, Lin's mother didn't dare to get close, so the doghouse was set up on the balcony of Li Jingru's home.

  The little dog didn't know whether it was tired from being teased by Lin Xiaoyu all day or because its new little nest was more comfortable, but soon after Li Jingru put it in its new little nest, it curled up and fell asleep. The little belly rose and fell, very cute.

  In the evening, after finishing their homework, Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru returned home to find that the little dog was barking loudly. Both Li Jingru and Lin Xiaoyu thought the little dog was hungry. So Lin Xiaoyu put the dog food she bought today into a small bowl and placed it next to the little dog.

  The dog saw the small bowl in front of it, stretched its little head into the bowl, sniffed with its little nose, and then withdrew its head, continuing to bark "woof woof".

  Lin Xiaoyu saw that the puppy wasn't eating dog food and asked Li Jingru, "The puppy seems to not like eating this dog food. Do all puppies eat bones?"

  Li Jingru's heart was much more delicate than Lin Xiaoyu, who was as thick as a nerve. She said: "Maybe this dog doesn't know how to eat solid food yet, I'll go get some milk for it."

  Li Jingru went to the living room and poured a glass of milk. She poured some milk into her palm and put it in front of the dog.

  The puppy seemed to be just as Li Jingru said, after sniffing Li Jingru's palm with its nose, it stuck out its small tongue and started licking the milk in Li Jingru's palm.

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at Li Jingru crouching on the floor, with her white and delicate small hands holding a little milk to feed the puppy, this scene made Lin Xiaoyu feel very warm and lovely.

  Her small palm was licked by the dog's cute little tongue, making it feel sour, and Li Jingru let out a silvery laugh of "heh heh heh".

  The milk in Li Jingru's palm was quickly licked clean by the little dog. Li Jingru then poured the milk into a small plate and placed it in front of the little dog, but the little dog seemed to prefer drinking milk from Li Jingru's palm. The little dog sniffed at the milk in the plate and then ignored it.

  Li Jingru had no choice but to slowly pour milk into her palm little by little to feed the puppy.

  Looking at this little thing drinking milk, Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru started naming the little guy.

  The two of them found out under Li Jingru's father's identification that the little dog was a girl, and Li Jingru happily gave this little dog a name called "Rong Rong". Lin Xiaoyu opposed the too feminine name "Rong Rong" and thought the puppy should be named something like "A Tian" or "Shandian".

  Li Jingru was not convinced by Lin Xiaoyu's name for the puppy, so they started arguing about what to call it. In their debate, the puppy got many names, except for common ones like "Wangcai", Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru almost gave the puppy every possible name.

  Finally, Li Jingru came up with the name "Bei Bei" that both children agreed on.

  From then on, Lin Xiaoyu and Li Jingru's lives had an additional lovely little dog named "Bebi".