LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 157
Early in the morning, the city was just starting to wake up.
Tall Young Man carried a heavy bag as he walked along the sparsely populated street. At this hour, only a few breakfast shops had opened their doors.
He arrived at one of the breakfast shops where there were steamed dumplings, tea eggs, soy milk, and fried dough sticks available. The uncle wearing an apron glanced at him and asked, "Young man, what would you like to eat?"
There was little expression on the young man's face as he replied, "A serving of steamed dumplings, to go."
"Alright!"
After paying, he carried his breakfast and entered the residential area.
Zhou Ziyou rubbed her eyes and opened the door to the living room, where indeed a plate of steamed dumplings was placed on the table. She went to the kitchen and saw Gray Tail handling meat.
"Is this... wild goat?"
"Yes."
Gray Tail cut the meat into pieces and put them in the refrigerator to freeze. This goat would last him a few days.
"Thank you for buying breakfast for me," Zhou Ziyou said as she went to the bathroom to freshen up.
Gray Tail had been living in her house for two months now. Except for when she bought the meat when he was injured, he had been hunting for his own food.
After freshening up, she began to eat breakfast, occasionally glancing at the young man in the kitchen. He silently prepared the food, saying very little.
Not long ago, he helped her drive away some troublemaking relatives, and Zhou Ziyou was clear that they wouldn't just let it go. They would definitely come back a second or third time.
This little wolf brother of hers was strong. Although she joked about him being her little bodyguard, there was some truth to it.
"Um, Gray Tail, let's go out later," she took a bite of the steamed dumpling.
Gray Tail paused his actions and looked over, his tone flat, "Where to?"
"As I said, you can temporarily be my little bodyguard. I'll provide food and shelter for you. Maybe you still prefer the taste of the wilderness, but I'll buy you some clothes."
This wolf cub... should be quite poor, judging by the fact that he only had two sets of clothes.
After hearing her out, Gray Tail replied in three words, "Not necessary," then continued to focus on the meat.
Zhou Ziyou took a sip of water and said leisurely, "Who complains about having too many clothes? I also want to buy some other things. You can come with me, mainly because I'm afraid of running into my family." "I haven't been out for a week. It's not good to just hide at home like this," he hesitated slightly, seeming uncomfortable, as if he wasn't good at saying such things, his tone a bit stiff, "I... will accompany you."
Zhou Ziyou chuckled, "I've been waiting for you to say that!"
After finishing breakfast, Zhou Ziyou changed into clothes suitable for going out and left the house.
Strictly speaking, this was Zhou Ziyou's first time going out with Gray Tail. He kept his head slightly lowered, with no expression on his face, slowing his pace and following behind her, showing little interest in the bustling city life.
It seemed like he rarely strolled around like this on the streets. He occasionally furrowed his brows, always avoiding contact with pedestrians.
As Zhou Ziyou passed by a stunning beauty, she was amazed. She turned her head and whispered, "That lady is so beautiful!"
Gray Tail glanced at her, showing no interest, and simply said, "Oh."
Zhou Ziyou didn't mind and started chatting casually, "I'm sure there are plenty of beautiful people in your world, right?"
Gray Tail didn't deny it and just made a sound of agreement.
Zhou Ziyou became interested and turned to him, "What does she look like? Is she also in the human world? I love seeing pretty girls!"
But Gray Tail simply replied with three words, "Focus on the road."
Zhou Ziyou lowered her head and nearly jumped when she saw something on the ground beneath her feet: someone had vomited there!
Startled, she exclaimed, "Whoa! I almost stepped on that! ... Anyway, you still haven't answered my question from earlier."
Gray Tail spotted a human ahead dressed in white and said, "…She's a wolf person with pure white fur. Many wolf people like her."
In the world of wolf people, pure colors were considered beautiful. Moreover, her fur was as white as a snow-capped mountain.
Zhou Ziyou immediately teased, "Oh! So do you like her too?"
"Why would I like her?" Gray Tail was puzzled. He didn't know White Tail well and was unaware of her personality. He wasn't someone who judged by appearances, and matters of companionship were far from his mind; he had no interest in them.
"Hey mister, can I get your contact information?" A lively voice chimed in. It was a girl in a pleated skirt, blinking her eyes as she looked at Gray Tail.
She seemed no older than twenty.
Gray Tail glanced at her but remained silent.
Zhou Ziyou sighed. Upon closer inspection, Gray Tail was quite good-looking, with sharp features and a youthful charm in his eyes. His tall stature and long legs naturally attracted young girls.
Just then, Zhou Ziyou noticed the girl looking at her, seeming somewhat puzzled. "Wait...are you his girlfriend?"
Zhou Ziyou shook her head.
And then, in the next moment...
"You're blocking the way." Gray Tail's voice was cold.
"Whatever! Just because you're good-looking!" The girl huffed and stormed off.
"Uh..." Zhou Ziyou hesitated, extending a hand as if to speak but then stopped herself. "Um, this..."
Gray Tail simply looked indifferent.
Zhou Ziyou figured Gray Tail wasn't good at socializing. She resolved to talk to him about it once they became more familiar with each other.
Upon reaching their destination, she entered a men's clothing store and grabbed a black hoodie, gesturing to Gray Tail, "This should fit you."
Gray Tail hesitated for a moment, then looked down at her, "I don't need it."
"You've come all this way, why not use it?"
Zhou Ziyou then picked out a pair of pants and handed them to him, "Try these on inside."
Gray Tail stared at the label: 150.
These pants cost 150?
Why buy them for him?
He pursed his lips, unmoved, and averted his gaze, "I'll buy what I need myself."
Zhou Ziyou thought to herself, What's the harm in buying something? He seems pretty broke, probably down to his last pair of pants. Besides, Gray Tail was her lifesaver, and she wasn't just going to let anyone go without clothes.
"A little token of appreciation. I've got the money for it. Hurry up, I need to get back to work."
Gray Tail could only take the clothes silently and head to the changing room. It seemed that this woman regarded him as a penniless nobody.
Why was she so concerned about a "penniless nobody" like him...
He had nothing to offer.
He couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend.
Encountering a pure human being who treated him so kindly for the first time, he found it miraculous and wanted to understand more about this woman, to see how she differed from other pure humans...
In reality, Gray Tail did have some savings. He would sell the surplus prey from his hunts to other werewolves. Besides eating, he had no interest in anything else, so money naturally accumulated (Gray Tail thought it was quite a lot).
If Wolf Father and Wolf Mother hadn't desired to buy human houses back then, they could have lived without going to the construction sites. Unfortunately, they also fell in love with everything in the human world: RVs, jewelry, clothes...
It was like a bottomless pit.
Perhaps for this reason, Gray Tail was uninterested in those who were always content as long as they were alive and had food.
He kept his desires very small.
A little something could fill his heart.
His world was actually very small.
It could be wanting to follow the pack leader.
It could also be... protecting this plump woman.
Gray Tail tried on the clothes in the fitting room, hesitated for a moment, then walked out.
"Wow! Looks great!" Zhou Ziyou looked him up and down, Gray Tail in his black hoodie resembled those popular boys she used to see in school.
Being praised by her made Gray Tail somewhat uncomfortable, so he averted his gaze.
The salesperson chuckled nearby, "Miss, your brother looks great in it."
"Yeah, I think so too," Zhou Ziyou smiled, paid for the clothes, and took the people to the women's section. She chose a black velvet pearl bodycon V-neck dress that complemented her fair skin, looking quite satisfied as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"This set will do," she muttered to herself.
Under the lights, her skin seemed to glow with radiance.
Gray Tail glanced at her beside him, then lowered his gaze, not saying anything, his thoughts unreadable.
He just went to the cashier, "How much for the dress she tried on earlier?"
The cashier blushed, "288. You're buying clothes for your sister, huh? You two must be close."
Gray Tail didn't say anything, silently paid, and only when Zhou Ziyou came out of the fitting room did he say, "She's not my sister."
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Huang Bao has something to say: My writing is really poor and slow, it took me three and a half hours to write this (two thousand five hundred words), full of frustration, my abilities don't match my ambitions.