Professor Shen’s Needy Little Lover - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The smile on Shen Zaiqing’s face was exceptionally deep today; no matter how one looked at it, she seemed to be in a very good mood. Long Xin, preoccupied with her own nervousness, didn’t notice this at all.

“Just now, when I told the property management I wanted to exchange for a different little dragon, it was because I once had a conflict with a small green dragon. You look a bit like her, so I mistakenly thought you were the same dragon.”

Shen Zaiqing’s words made Long Xin’s nerves tighten.

Because she was, in fact, that very same dragon.

“However, I’ve confirmed that you and she are not the same one. So, I want to apologize to you. I’m very sorry for saying those things; will you forgive me?” Shen Zaiqing half-squatted, bringing her eyes level with Long Xin’s.

Her expression was calm, and she carried a convincing weight of sincerity when she spoke.

As Long Xin gazed into her eyes, her look slowly shifted from worry to joy, and the tension between her brows relaxed.

Shen Zaiqing had been pondering this question the whole way here.

What should she do if the dragon cub she adopted was indeed that same dragon she had beaten for stealing a kiss back then?

The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she suddenly had the answer.

She’d just raise her anyway.

After all, her desire to raise a dragon had been entirely influenced by that dragon in the first place. Perhaps the things she wanted to investigate could be found directly through Long Xin.

Long Xin’s heart had been on a roller coaster all morning, rising and falling without stop. However, now that Shen Zaiqing had cleared up the matter that had kept her in suspense, she wasn’t so panicked anymore.

She showed her first smile since entering Building No. 3 and spoke her first words: “It’s okay.”

Shen Zaiqing patted her head, treating her entirely like a little dragon cub, her voice soft: “Then let’s go inside.”

Shen Zaiqing pressed the handle, twisted the door open, and invited Long Xin in.

The view suddenly opened up. Shen Zaiqing’s home was full of surprises at every turn.

At the entrance was a low sink, small yet practical. When a dragon cub returned from playing downstairs, they could wash their dirty little feet here before entering the house.

Beside the sink sat a soft absorbent rug with a watermelon pattern; the fibers would change patterns when stroked in one direction, and stroking them the other way would reveal a picture of a chilled watermelon.

Long Xin fell in love with it at first sight.

The fruit dragons love most is the jaboticaba (tree grape). They prefer fully ripe jaboticabas with skin turned dark purple; the taste is a blend of sweet with a hint of tartness, perfect for eating one by one while lounging in the trees.

One of Shen Zaiqing’s projects involved researching jaboticaba cultivation technology, so there was a dedicated cultivation base at the university. She had transplanted two trees into the residential complex, and whenever they bore fruit, they attracted a crowd of dragon cubs.

These dragon cubs had to get hands-on. Their body weight was lighter than human toddlers, and though their limbs were short, they were perfect for climbing jaboticaba trees. They wouldn’t bend the branches, and they could carefully avoid the unripe fruit to pluck the dark purple ones from the top. Once they found a delicious fruit, they would sprawl on the tree and eat, squinting their eyes in total satisfaction.

During the jaboticaba harvest season, the complex security guards had to come out to maintain order and avoid chaos. They would make the dragon cubs line up and time each one, giving them a two-minute limit.

The second favorite fruit is watermelon. Dragons have “hot” bodies with higher temperatures than humans, so they love cold foods. In the summer, watermelon is a necessity. If there is chilled watermelon, a dragon will stand in front of the refrigerator wagging her tail. If you don’t give it to her, she’s persistent enough to stand there all day.

In the market, jaboticaba production and sales aren’t high and haven’t become widespread yet, so jaboticaba patterns are rarely printed on household items. Thus, Shen Zaiqing chose the more popular watermelon. Her living room pillows, the large rug, the small stools, and even the stickers on the floor-standing air conditioner all featured watermelons.

Long Xin formally declared that from this moment on, watermelon was her favorite.

However, when Shen Zaiqing led her to the balcony and she saw that 2.5-meter-tall jaboticaba tree, her eyes went straight, and she realized she had spoken too soon.

The tree had a thick trunk and was laden with dark purple fruit; standing close, one could smell a fruity fragrance that made one’s mouth water.

Long Xin’s reaction was too genuine. She extended her claws toward the tree, the instinct to climb stirrring within her, but she forcibly suppressed it. She reminded herself that she had to play the role of a “good cub” in front of Shen Zaiqing.

“It’s all prepared for you.”

For some reason, Shen Zaiqing saw a “clumsy-cute” quality in Long Xin. Her eyes, which couldn’t lie, revealed her blunt thoughts, yet her movements were stiffly halted out of fear of Shen Zaiqing’s gaze. Specifically, she didn’t even know how to pull back her half-extended hand and just stood there foolishly.

Typical “saying no with the mouth, but the body is honest.” This was exactly the same as seven years ago.

“But you can only eat after we have a meal,” Shen Zaiqing gave Long Xin a way out.

“Okay,” Long Xin tried to make her voice sound as “milky” and child-like as possible.

Her worry remained constant. If Shen Zaiqing hadn’t recognized her, they could get along peacefully; if she were recognized, she expected to be ruthlessly swept out the door.

Shen Zaiqing then brought Long Xin to her room—a separate room right next to her own. It was filled with various brightly colored small furniture and many trendy toys that dragon cubs liked to play with.

The tricky part was that the bed she had prepared for Long Xin was too small. She felt a bit troubled. Should she go buy another one? It was still early enough.

Long Xin followed behind Shen Zaiqing, her small eyes constantly stealing glances at her. When there was no conversation, she didn’t dare make eye contact, but she couldn’t help but note her expressions, her movements, and her words.

Seeing Shen Zaiqing’s worry, she explained seriously: “It’s because I ate something bad that I have edema (swelling). It will go away by nighttime.”

“Don’t worry.”

Her eyes were extremely clear; when she spoke, those eyes would stare at Shen Zaiqing with intense focus.

Shen Zaiqing was always inevitably drawn to her eyes. She loved translucent things and had even prepared a jar of clear glass marbles in Long Xin’s room. But comparing them now, the marbles were far inferior; Long Xin’s eyes were clearer and brighter than all the glass beads in the world.

“Then I won’t buy a new one,” Shen Zaiqing made the decision happily.

Next, she took Long Xin on a tour of every corner of the apartment.

Just as they were about to move to the living room, her phone rang. It was Xiao Lin from property management. He opened with various apologies and spoke politely, but his tone was urgent: “Professor Shen, could I trouble you to come to the service center again? It’s quite urgent; you need to come immediately.”

“Just you alone. Don’t bring Long Xin for now.”

“It’s our manager; he wants to see you. He says there are some very important matters to discuss with you.”

“You can come? Great. I’ll let our manager know. Sorry for the trouble.”

Shen Zaiqing hung up feeling a bit strange. If the property manager had something to say, he could have said it while she was at the service center earlier. Why didn’t he? Was it something that couldn’t be said in front of Long Xin?

Since Xiao Lin was rushing her, Shen Zaiqing settled Long Xin in and departed.

Long Xin sat on the sofa, not daring to move an inch. She stayed exactly as Shen Zaiqing had placed her, not even swinging her feet. She just waited quietly for Shen Zaiqing to return, savoring today’s moments of joy in her heart.

Shen Zaiqing soon arrived at the property office. Xiao Lin, who was looking out from the entrance, smiled broadly when he saw her and hurried her to the manager’s office. The relentless pressure from the leadership was truly terrifying.

“Manager Su,” Shen Zaiqing called out warmly as she entered.

Su Wu’an nodded to her and poured a cup of tea, a smile on his face and a very polite attitude: “Professor Shen, please sit.”

Shen Zaiqing wasn’t in the mood for tea and simply asked, “Manager Su sent for me to talk about Long Xin?”

Su Wu’an placed the tea in front of her, his smile fading as he nodded: “Yes. I just returned from the Dragon Management Bureau, and I just received some news—rather bad news, actually.”

“The leaders at the Dragon Management Bureau revealed that Long Xin has a violent temper and is capable of any evil; she is a bad dragon. Keeping her in Building No. 3 poses a great danger.”

“On our end, the property management hopes Professor Shen can work with us to kick Long Xin out.”

Shen Zaiqing found this ridiculous, but her tone remained relatively mild: “If Long Xin had a criminal record, she wouldn’t have passed the screening, so how could she enter the adoption process?”

“Since she has passed the screening and all the adoption procedures are now complete, it proves that there are no issues with Long Xin’s character.”

She detested people who used words like “bad,” “ugly,” or “evil” before even getting to know someone. Su Wu’an was not only using those words but passing a final judgment on Long Xin, which caused Shen Zaiqing great dissatisfaction.

Su Wu’an was somewhat speechless. He had explained the danger of Long Xin so clearly; why was Shen Zaiqing being so uncooperative?

“She obviously used connections to bypass the process. Given her age and experience, do you think the Dragon Management Bureau would normally let her into the adoption program? She entered Building No. 3 with an ulterior motive.”

Su Wu’an placed Long Xin’s information sheet in front of Shen Zaiqing for her to review. It recorded Long Xin’s true information, including her real age, background, and physical characteristics. Long Xin had a copy of this sheet as well, though she hadn’t shown it to Shen Zaiqing yet. Since Shen Zaiqing hadn’t seen it before, she couldn’t conclude that Long Xin had definitely faked these details.

“As far as I know, even adult dragons can enter the adoption program. Mr. Longquan at Ms. Liu’s place on the 23rd floor is proof of that.”

The existence of Building No. 3 was to promote harmonious interaction between dragons and humans. While most adoption subjects were dragon cubs only a month or two old, there were exceptions.

Su Wu’an couldn’t hold back anymore, and his face shifted completely: “I’ll be straight with you; this content isn’t in the records. Long Xin is a Green Dragon, and we have never raised a Green Dragon in Building No. 3!”

“Among the dragon races, Green Dragons are the most violent, moody, and aggressive. They love committing crimes and are evil to the bone.”

“The Dragon Clan Chief even called to warn us; we must be careful of her.”

“Is this situation not serious enough?”

“Property management is responsible for the entirety of Building No. 3; we cannot leave such a hazard here! This is also for the sake of your own personal safety, so we hope Professor Shen will cooperate with us.”

“Long Xin has three evaluation forms. As long as Professor Shen gives her a score of 0 on all of them, we can immediately terminate the adoption relationship and send her away.”

“We also promise that once Long Xin is gone, we will provide Professor Shen with a different little dragon.”

The anger in Shen Zaiqing’s eyes grew more intense, and she responded sharply: “I don’t need a replacement dragon.”

“If Long Xin had a criminal record, it would show up in the public security system; I would have seen it when I was processing documents at the police station two days ago.”

“To label Long Xin based solely on a racial theory about Green Dragons… I find that truly absurd and laughable.”

Support Professor Shen’s Needy Little Lover