The man bent down, casually resting his hands on the car roof and door, pinning Su Yang, who was about to get out of the car, in the seat.
Su Yang was in a dilemma. Flashes of the words Xu Lize had said when he proposed getting a marriage certificate with her came to her mind.
He had said that the marriage was real, the marriage certificate was real, and so was their spousal relationship. But they would only get the certificate without a wedding banquet, no wedding ceremony, no wedding photos...
Su Yang couldn't say she took these words as a warning, but she did remember them clearly.
So at first, she was afraid of breaking the agreement and losing her credibility. Later, she was afraid of being too hasty and giving away her feelings.
But Su Yang didn't know how to bring this up. Then, as she lowered her eyes, she saw the wedding ring on Xu Lize's ring finger.
The plain band was really unremarkable, but on that man's well - defined fingers, it looked surprisingly good.
Her heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to speak, she heard someone shouting Xu Lize's name not far away.
"Hey... Xu Lize, did you bring the liquefied gas? Hurry up! What are you dawdling about there!"
The powerful voice startled Su Yang. She straightened her back immediately, as if a student who had been daydreaming and was suddenly called out by the teacher in front of the class. She tried to put on a serious face, but overdid it. Her head hit the car frame, and the pain made her not know whether to laugh or cry.
Xu Lize reached out to rub her head while turning around to scold the newcomer.
"What are you shouting for? I'm just about to carry it. It's your own farm, and you don't even know if there's liquefied gas. You invited us all here for a barbecue. How are we supposed to eat? Raw?"
Only then did Su Yang see the person coming through Xu Lize's waist.
The man had a handsome, rebellious face, sword - shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. His shoulder - length black hair fell straight down. He was wearing a flowery shirt, a pair of black wide - leg pants, and a pair of flip - flops on his feet. He was holding a dog leash in his hand, and a Doberman with drooping ears and a lolling tongue was squatting beside his long legs.
The picture was extremely impactful yet inexplicably harmonious.
Su Yang was so stunned that she forgot the pain on her head. She subconsciously shrank back into the car.
The man in the flowery shirt finally noticed Su Yang sitting in the car.
His starry eyes narrowed slightly. Suddenly, he raised his hand and said to Xu Lize with a smile, "Sorry, sorry. I was blind. I interrupted Third Young Master's tryst. This must be Miss Su, right?"
Xu Lize kicked the man in the calf and said, "You can't say anything nice. Hurry up and carry the stuff!"
With that, he walked around to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and started directing the man in the flowery shirt to work.
The man mumbled something like "Why do I, the host, have to do the hard work", but still obediently took steps.
However, there were many other things in Xu Lize's trunk. Seven or eight boxes were not easy to carry. The man obviously didn't want to make multiple trips, so he started stacking the boxes from the largest to the smallest.
Just then, the Doberman on the leash became restless. It flapped its four lean legs and kept going against the man in the flowery shirt.
The man got annoyed and loosened the leash, letting the dog play on its own.
As soon as it was free, the Doberman shot out like an arrow from the back of the car and pounced directly on Su Yang, who had just gotten out of the car.
Su Yang was afraid of dogs because when she was a child, she had been chased by a stray dog and bitten on the ankle.
At that time, Su Yang's grandparents were working in the vegetable field, and He Juan was working in the town and didn't go home at noon. The first one to notice something was wrong with Su Yang was her aunt He Rou, who came back to get something at noon.
When He Rou found out that Su Yang had been bitten by a dog, she picked her up without hesitation and rushed to the county hospital. She registered for emergency treatment and got Su Yang a rabies vaccine.
Whenever this incident was mentioned later, He Rou still had lingering fears. She said that when she got home, she saw the little girl sitting in a daze by the pool, with blood all over her feet. She neither cried nor made a sound, which made people's hearts skip a beat.
In fact, Su Yang was only ten years old at that time. She was so frightened that she even forgot to cry.
After that, Su Yang was in awe of overly lively or large - sized dogs, just like the Doberman in front of her.
This was obviously an adult Doberman. When it pounced, it could almost reach Su Yang's chest. Its bright eyes stared straight at Su Yang, and when it opened its mouth, sharp canine teeth were revealed.
Su Yang was so scared that her face turned pale. She didn't care about anything at the moment and shouted Xu Lize's name at the top of her lungs, with a sob in the end of her voice.
"Xu Lize..."
Xu Lize was still counting the boxes in front of the trunk. When he heard Su Yang's cry, he threw the things in his hand directly on the ground. Before he could even take a step, he saw a petite figure running towards him quickly.
The Doberman barked even more excitedly when it saw this. It ran after Su Yang closely with its legs spread, as if it was about to pounce on her again.
Su Yang originally wanted to hide, behind the car, behind Xu Lize, anywhere would do. But the barking of the dog made her feel like she was facing a great enemy. When she saw the man walking forward and opening his arms, she didn't even think and just rushed into Xu Lize's arms.
"Oscar!" Immediately afterwards, a furious shout came from afar.
The Doberman, which had looked so fierce just now, let out a "whine" sound, then drooped its ears and hung its head, standing still on the spot, looking docile...
Su Yang was hiding in Xu Lize's arms but still looked back frequently with lingering fear. When she saw this scene, she was a bit dumbfounded.
It turned out that this dog was an actor!
At this time, the man in the flowery shirt strolled out from behind Xu Lize. He walked up to the motionless Oscar, raised his hand, and gave the dog a hard pat on the head.
"What are you doing? Are you having an old problem again? Haven't you seen a strange and beautiful young lady for too long, so you can't control your legs?"
Oscar looked up and let out another "whine", then opened its mouth and barked at the man in the flowery shirt.
The man was not lenient at all. He gave Oscar another flick on the head and said fiercely, "Sit still. Don't be so playful." Then he smiled and looked down at Su Yang in Xu Lize's arms, with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, Oscar is just an attention - seeker. It hasn't seen a beautiful young lady for a long time, so it's excited."
Su Yang felt that her legs were weak at this moment. The stress reaction just now was too strong. Now she was almost hanging on Xu Lize. Even when she stood on tiptoe, she couldn't touch the ground.
"I think it's itching for a beating," Xu Lize agreed with the man in the flowery shirt.
Noticing that the person in his arms was still trembling, he reached out and gently patted her back. Then he squinted at Oscar, which was squatting on the ground panting with its tongue out, and said, "I even brought you a nice piece of fillet, but I think you'll only be able to gnaw on bones tonight!"
"Whine"!
Oscar seemed to understand what Xu Lize said. It howled upwards, as if saying "I'm sorry".
But Xu Lize just shook his head unmoved. Then he bent down slightly, put his right hand under Su Yang's knees, and easily picked her up horizontally.
"Hey, wait a minute. You... there's a whole trunk full of stuff..."
The man in the flowery shirt finally came to his senses. While kicking his useless dog, he shouted at Xu Lize's turning back, "Third, how could you prioritize your lover over your friend!"