Chapter 23
Xie Yunli had already arranged everything, and all the adoption procedures had been completed.
After Aunt Zhu told him about Kaka’s situation, Xie Yunli came to the rescue station that very day, discussed the relevant matters with Lin Yuan, and set today as the day to pick up Kaka.
When Wen Ran saw Xie Yunli’s signature on the adoption certificate, she looked up at him.
Xie Yunli had been standing beside her, but maintained a step’s distance from her — a distance that wouldn’t make her feel nervous.
Seeing her look at him, Xie Yunli smiled at her gently.
Wen Ran quickly lowered her head and slowly wrote her own name after Xie Yunli’s.
Starting today, she and Xie Yunli officially became Kaka’s adoptive parents.
Wen Ran’s happy emotions overflowed, and she kept holding Kaka, not letting even Aunt Zhu help her hold it for a while.
Kaka was probably born from a Golden Retriever and a local mixed breed. Although it was only about seven or eight months old, being a medium-sized dog, even though it was very thin, it still had some weight.
Wen Ran didn’t feel tired holding it at all; she only felt at peace.
She was truly so happy. From the day she learned about Kaka, she had hoped every day that Kaka would get better quickly so she could bring it home to care for it.
Kaka obviously liked her too, lying obediently in her arms the whole time.
Xiao Zhi also kept clapping happily because he knew Wen Ran had always wanted to adopt Kaka and had been very worried for her recently, afraid that Kaka would be adopted by someone else.
“That’s wonderful, Wen Ran, Kaka is going home with you,” Xiao Zhi said happily.
Wen Ran nodded: “Thank you, Xiao Zhi. I will definitely take good care of it.”
Xie Yunli looked at the two of them thoughtfully.
Her communication with Xiao Zhi seemed more relaxed.
“Wen Ran, let’s go home,” Xie Yunli called to her.
Wen Ran nodded and said to Kaka with her head lowered: “We’re going home now, Kaka. I’m taking you to our home.”
As they walked out of the rescue station, Wen Ran looked at the dozens of stray dogs sunbathing in the yard, and a sad expression appeared in her eyes and brows again.
Lin Yuan came to see them off and suddenly leaned close to Wen Ran to tell her: “Yesterday Mr. Xie brought many pet supplies and food, and also donated money in both your names as a married couple.”
Wen Ran was stunned: “I didn’t know… about this.”
“You’ve been supporting strays without telling him either, haven’t you?” Lin Yuan said with a smile. “He also didn’t ask me to tell you. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of these stray children, and we hope that in the future their adopters will all be like you two, truly caring for these little ones.”
Wen Ran looked at those cats and dogs again, thinking to herself that she must work harder at painting and earn more money so that more stray animals could have shelter from wind and rain and full bellies.
Just as they were about to get in the car, they suddenly heard someone calling Wen Ran’s name.
Looking back, they saw an unfamiliar girl running over with a delighted expression: “Wen Ran, what a surprise to meet you again! Are you taking Kaka away?”
It was Weiwei, the college student volunteer they had met when Aunt Zhu and Wen Ran came last time.
She ran up to Wen Ran and looked at Xie Yunli standing beside her in surprise: “This is… your brother?”
Xie Yunli’s presence was too outstanding. Standing beside Wen Ran, it was hard not to wonder about their relationship.
Wen Ran stammered: “No, not my brother. He’s my… he’s my…”
Seeing her wanting to explain but unable to, Xie Yunli took over: “I’m Wen Ran’s husband.”
Weiwei said incredulously: “What? Husband? You’re married?”
Wen Ran kept her head down, saying nothing, but her arms holding Kaka tightened.
She could sense that Weiwei’s tone was clearly one of disbelief — that an autistic girl could marry a man who obviously looked like a business elite seemed impossible.
How could someone with autism so easily find someone to spend their life with?
Thinking this, Wen Ran pressed her lips together and heard Weiwei say: “My goodness, I never imagined… How long have you been married? I thought… I thought Wen Ran was single…”
Obviously, what she originally wanted to say in the latter half wasn’t this. Following normal logic, what she originally wanted to say should have been something like — she thought that Wen Ran, who had autism, couldn’t possibly get married.
But fortunately, Wen Ran couldn’t understand the complex meanings behind language.
Xie Yunli didn’t answer her question: “Sorry, we have to go.”
“Ah, leaving so soon?” Weiwei looked at Wen Ran reluctantly: “I wanted to chat with you more.”
Xie Yunli opened the car door and said to Wen Ran: “Get in the car, be careful.”
He protected Wen Ran’s head with one hand and watched her get in the car, then gently closed the door.
Perhaps his gesture toward Wen Ran was too considerate, which didn’t quite match his aloof appearance, so Weiwei looked at him in surprise again.
Aunt Zhu said to Weiwei: “Thank you last time, dear. We’re going back now.”
Weiwei looked at Xie Yunli hesitantly: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it, but… could I get Wen Ran’s contact information? I think we get along quite well and could perhaps become friends.”
Xie Yunli glanced at Wen Ran through the car window. She kept her head down, her long hair falling to cover her eyes and brows, making her expression unreadable.
He said indifferently: “If we’re destined to meet again next time, we’ll talk then.”
After saying this, Xie Yunli got in the car and closed the door.
This time, he sat in the seat next to Wen Ran.
On the way back, Wen Ran kept her head down, gently stroking Kaka’s body with her hand. Kaka also lay docilely on her, drowsily closing its eyes.
It was too fragile. Due to long-term malnutrition, when it was rescued it was nothing but skin and bones, and its body also bore penetrating wounds that had nearly killed it.
For treatment, most of its fur had been shaved off. Although the wounds had healed considerably, it still trembled faintly.
Many dogs that had been strays were more sensitive to human scents. Perhaps it could also sense that Wen Ran felt sorry for it and wanted to protect it.
She thought again of the Kaka from before. But that Kaka had been sent to her after training, so she hadn’t been able to see its childhood.
Xie Yunli suddenly said: “Are you tired? Should I help you hold it for a while?”
Wen Ran shook her head: “No, I want to hold it myself.”
Xie Yunli reached out, wanting to touch Kaka’s head, but as soon as Wen Ran saw his hand, she instinctively raised hers as well.
In an instant, their hands touched. Wen Ran pulled her hand back as if electrocuted, and her whole body shifted uneasily.
From the beginning, she had been sitting tightly against the car door, never leaning in his direction.
Although their positions were close together, they seemed separated by an invisible distance.
After a moment, Xie Yunli said: “I want to pet it… may I?”
Wen Ran hesitated for a while, then said: “Then you… need to be careful. It might be afraid of you.”
Xie Yunli reached out his hand. Just as he was about to touch Kaka, it sensitively shrank into Wen Ran’s arms and began to tremble.
Xie Yunli paused and withdrew his hand: “It is indeed afraid of me.”
“Never mind, there’s no rush.”
Wen Ran breathed a quiet sigh of relief and touched Kaka’s fluffy head.
Aunt Zhu turned around and said to them with a smile: “Yes, there’s no rush. Mr. Xie should come home more often to see Kaka. After it gets familiar, it’ll be fine. Puppies are like that — they’re definitely afraid of strangers at first.”
“Is that so?”
Xie Yunli looked at Kaka. This little dog, having been abused, had no fewer psychological problems than physical ones. When he came yesterday, Kaka had shrunk into a corner trembling as soon as it saw him approach.
But toward Wen Ran, it showed no fear or resistance at all.
Was it because Wen Ran’s aura was too gentle?
Perhaps because of Kaka’s companionship, Wen Ran wasn’t as uncomfortable on the way back. She also hoped to get home quickly, so even when they wanted to stop the car halfway to let her get out and walk around, she refused.
When they got home, Wen Ran discovered that Xie Yunli had not only completed all the adoption procedures but had also bought many things.
They were all living supplies prepared for Kaka, and they had already been placed in the yard.
Seeing the dog bed, dog food, toilet, toys, and other things placed in the yard, Wen Ran looked at Xie Yunli in some surprise.
Of course, she was looking at Xie Yunli’s shoulder, because she still couldn’t adapt to communicating with him face to face.
“These… are all for Kaka?”
Aunt Zhu said with a smile: “Yes, these are all things Mr. Xie prepared for Kaka. Otherwise, what other small animals in our house could use these?”
Zhou Wei got out of the car and helped Aunt Zhu organize those things. They had brought two dog beds: one was a wooden little house for the yard, and the other was a soft cushion for the room.
Wen Ran also wanted to help them organize things, but Kaka was sensitive to the unfamiliar environment. As soon as Wen Ran put it on the ground, it trembled. Wen Ran picked it up again and carried it into the house, placing it on the sofa, where it curled itself into a ball and made whimpering sounds in its throat, as if it didn’t want her to leave.
“I won’t leave, Kaka. This is our home. I’ll always stay with you. Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…”
She heard Xie Yunli’s footsteps and looked up slightly to see him walking in wearing slippers.
Then he stopped not far from her and handed her something.
It was a pink plush toy.
Wen Ran reached out to take it: “Is this… for Kaka? This toy?”
“If you like it, you can keep it for yourself,” Xie Yunli said. “There are many more toys outside. You can choose.”
Wen Ran shook her head: “I… I won’t compete with Kaka for toys. Give them all to it.”
“Is there anything you want?” Xie Yunli paused and said: “I can bring it to you separately.”
Wen Ran was stunned and shook her head.
Aunt Zhu and Zhou Wei were still organizing things in the yard. Only the two of them and Kaka were in the room.
Wen Ran suddenly gathered her courage and looked up at him.
Used to seeing her with downcast eyes, her gaze wandering and confused, Xie Yunli hadn’t expected her to suddenly look up at him.
Their eyes met for an instant.
It was only for two or three seconds before Wen Ran looked away again. She looked at the television nearby, her chest rising and falling a few times as she said: “… Thank you for helping Kaka, and also… and also…”
“And also what?”
And also… and also what?
What did she want to say?
Suddenly questioned by Xie Yunli like this, Wen Ran seemed to suddenly not know what she was saying, or rather, she didn’t know how to express her thoughts, so she remained confused for a long while without speaking.
Xie Yunli realized he shouldn’t have interrupted her words, because language was already a difficult thing for her.
So he said nothing more, just quietly watched her.
Kaka, lying beside her, began to slowly climb onto Wen Ran’s legs. It seemed to crave the warmth of her body.
Wen Ran’s attention was drawn to Kaka’s movement. She lowered her head to touch it, and when she touched the area of its wounds, her hand began to tremble slightly.
Her thoughts had obviously left their previous conversation and been pulled elsewhere.
She was staring at Kaka in a daze when suddenly a figure slowly enveloped her. Wen Ran was startled and hurriedly looked up.
It was Xie Yunli bending down, half-kneeling in front of her, looking at Kaka in her arms.
“It suffered a lot before, but it won’t anymore,” he said quietly. “It will live well here. It won’t go hungry, won’t be cold, no one will bully it, and no one will drive it away.”
“It will grow up well in this home.”
Hearing his last sentence, Wen Ran’s eyes immediately turned red.