Scumbag Ye Shuang

……

“How long are you going to leave me here?! Hmph, you don’t care about me at all!”

“You scumbag!”

“Scumbag chair!”

Hearing the voices beside him, Ye Shuang, who had been leisurely reading on the sofa, froze for a moment. He slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on a certain adorable golden creature in front of him.

Alice had puffed up her cheeks and was sitting on her knees, supporting herself on the sofa with both hands as she glared angrily at Ye Shuang with her big eyes.

Well, she might have been angry. But when someone was cute enough, even their anger didn’t look intimidating in the slightest. Instead, it looked more like they were acting adorable.

Of course, Ye Shuang didn’t think Alice was trying to act cute with him. After all, this little girl was genuinely proud and haughty.

“But why am I suddenly a scumbag?” Ye Shuang asked Alice. The two of them had been sitting there perfectly fine just a moment ago.

“You haven’t taken me outside in ages! You said you’d take care of me, but does leaving me at home and feeding me on time count as taking care of me?” Alice said, planting her hands on her hips. “I’m not your pet. Even your pet gets petted now and then, doesn’t it?”

“You want to be petted too?” Ye Shuang reached out and rubbed Alice’s head.

“Th-that’s not what I meant!” Alice shouted angrily, though she didn’t move his hand away.

Seeing Alice bare her little fangs as if she was about to pounce on him and take a few bites, Ye Shuang could only laugh helplessly and quickly wave his hands. Still, he had indeed promised to look after Alice, yet he hadn’t gone out of his way to do anything for her lately.

Seeing the Little Golden Retriever in such a state, Ye Shuang smiled and asked, “So, Miss Alice, what would you like me to do with you?”

“Hmph.” Alice crossed her arms and plopped herself down. “I’m angry now. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Coincidentally, I have tomorrow off. If you don’t want to go, I’ll just have to spend the day with someone else.” Ye Shuang deliberately spoke slowly, his tone drawn out. “What a shame.”

“Who said I wasn’t going?” Alice immediately retorted.

“Then where would Miss Alice like to go?” Ye Shuang continued. “If you want me to take you for a photo shoot or something, that’s completely fine too.”

Alice instead pulled out her pink phone. Ye Shuang glanced at it, then froze.

An amusement park?

Hmm…

Had he already taken several girls to amusement parks? Ye Shuang felt as if he’d been there several times, each time with a different person.

Was this some strange mandatory stage in his life?

The moment he thought of the roller coasters, Ye Shuang’s face filled with resistance. In the end, he clapped his hands and said with a smile, “Wouldn’t an amusement park be a little boring?”

“Bobo used to take me there once every month!”

“Is that so…” Ye Shuang thought about it. Bobo had been gone for quite some time now, and it seemed Alice really did enjoy going to amusement parks. Perhaps it was simply because she was a child.

“Since you put it that way, let’s go to the amusement park,” Ye Shuang finally agreed. After all, Alice had been the one to suggest it. He hadn’t managed to change the subject, and outright refusing her didn’t seem like a very good idea either.

He could just treat it as taking a child out to have some fun.

Just as Ye Shuang was thinking that, Alice gave him a suspicious look. “You…”

“Me?” Ye Shuang pointed at himself.

“Are you planning to take some other girls too?” Alice had a feeling Ye Shuang would do exactly that. She stared straight at him with her eyes, as if trying to see through him.

Ye Shuang hadn’t actually intended to do so, but seeing how much Alice seemed to care about it, he teased her, “Wouldn’t it be livelier with more people?”

“I don’t like lively places.”

“Then you can go by yourself.”

“?!”

“I’m just kidding.” Ye Shuang rubbed Alice’s head again to soothe her, then said, “We’ll go together tomorrow.”

“Hmph. At least you know how to behave… A little more rubbing… Wait, how long are you going to keep touching me?!”

Alice immediately knocked Ye Shuang’s arm away.

“Uh…”

After agreeing to take Alice out, Ye Shuang made a simple plan for the next day. Though calling it a plan was a bit of an exaggeration. He had gone to amusement parks so many times that he was probably as familiar with them as he was with his own home.

Alice had said that when Bobo was around, he would take her once a month. Ye Shuang guessed they probably hadn’t gone to the same amusement park every time. Otherwise, she would have gotten tired of it pretty quickly.

Ye Shuang glanced at the Little Golden Retriever beside him. Her mood seemed to have improved considerably. Sitting on the sofa and playing with her phone, she even hummed softly.

“Hm~ hm~ hm~”

She had even started singing.

Although Alice didn’t share the same genes, Aunt Xian’s influence had clearly rubbed off on her. At the very least, she sounded quite pleasant when she sang.

Just then, the sound of the front door unlocking came from the entryway.

“Yo!” The door opened, and Anshi Yi and An Shiyu walked in one after the other.

Ye Shuang glanced at them. “Where did you two go?”

“That’s a long story, so I’m not going to tell you,” Anshi Yi said as she walked over to the sofa. When she saw Alice lounging there, she reached out and stroked her hair. “Not bad. Smooth and silky.”

“?!”

Alice pointed at her. “What are you doing?”

While Alice was staring at Anshi Yi, An Shiyu reached over and rubbed the top of her head as well.

“Mmm. She’s right.”

Then An Shiyu added expressionlessly, “Oh, I haven’t washed my hands since I picked my nose. I’ll wipe them on your hair.”

“Eek?!!!”

Hearing Alice’s shriek, Ye Shuang could only look helplessly at Anshi Yi and An Shiyu. “Stop teasing her, you two.”

“Okaaay~~~”

Anshi Yi and An Shiyu headed upstairs, leaving behind an Alice with puffed-up cheeks, fuming in anger.

“When Bobo comes back, I’m definitely going to have him beat you two up!” Alice huffed. By then, she would surely be able to twist the two fishes around her finger.

“That’s right. Bobo is very strong,” Ye Shuang chimed in.

“Exactly!” The moment Alice imagined the two fishes bowing and scraping before her, her mood instantly improved.

“Miss Alice, we definitely won’t act so arrogantly again.”

“Please forgive us, Miss Alice. From now on, we’ll follow your every command.”

Alice continued on by herself, even beginning to act out the scene. Ye Shuang could only laugh helplessly at the sight.

But just then, a paper ball came flying down from the second floor and landed squarely on Alice’s head.

Bonk.

Alice: (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣

“Hey?!!!!!!!”