Wen Ran was startled and hurriedly took the paint tubes from his hands.
“I was thinking… I…”
She stammered, seeming somewhat conflicted, as if she didn’t know how to express her thoughts.
She couldn’t lie, but sometimes, her true thoughts weren’t so easy to express either.
Xie Yunli frowned.
“Can’t you tell me?”
Why didn’t you tell me when you went out? Why can you communicate with others but not with me?
“Do you want to go out? Or do you want to see someone?”
Suppressing some emotion without showing it on his face, Xie Yunli asked patiently: “Is there something you can’t tell me?”
Wen Ran was stunned. Her expression became uneasy, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Her body even trembled slightly.
Xie Yunli watched her for a while.
In the end, he didn’t want to make things difficult for her. “Do you want to continue painting?”
Wen Ran shook her head helplessly.
He adjusted her easel back to its original position and said: “Then rest. I’ll go now.”
Wen Ran stared blankly as he turned and left her room.
When he came downstairs, Aunt Zhu had just returned. As soon as she entered, she saw Xie Yunli’s suit jacket thrown on the floor and was immediately startled.
In her impression, Xie Yunli was also very clean and tidy. Every time he came, he would hang his jacket on the rack. Given his personality, it was impossible for him to casually throw his jacket on the floor.
She was puzzled when Xie Yunli came downstairs.
He didn’t stay for dinner, only telling Aunt Zhu that he had a last-minute dinner engagement.
Before leaving, he paused for a moment and glanced upstairs.
It was just for an instant, then he left without looking back.
Everything seemed unchanged, but Aunt Zhu intuitively felt that something had happened between the two of them.
However, given their personalities, what could have possibly happened?
Wen Ran lifted her skirt and walked downstairs. After looking around and finding that Xie Yunli had already left, she was stunned for a moment and asked Aunt Zhu: “Why… did he leave without eating? Wasn’t he hungry?”
Aunt Zhu said: “He probably had a last-minute dinner engagement.”
A last-minute dinner engagement meant he had dinner plans with someone else.
Wen Ran lowered her eyes and nodded. After a while, she sighed softly: “Work… is so busy…”
Hearing this, Aunt Zhu suddenly felt a pang in her heart.
Because many years ago, when Wen Ran was still young, facing an empty dining table, she would always sigh softly and say: “Work is so busy… Will Daddy and Mommy… eat properly?”
“It’s okay. For a successful businessman like Mr. Xie, not eating on time is certainly common. He can definitely handle being hungry for a little while.”
Wen Ran was stunned for a moment and said: “…Not so good.”
“What’s not so good?”
Wen Ran pouted and said: “Being hungry… is not so good.”
Moreover, she seemed to have done something wrong, because she could tell that Xie Yunli’s mood seemed somewhat off. She had sensitively noticed this but didn’t know what to do about it or why.
Aunt Zhu suddenly said: “Actually, Ranran, you could try asking him to stay. Perhaps he would be willing to stay for dinner.”
For ordinary people, this would just be a casual remark, but for Wen Ran, it was an incredibly difficult thing.
Even the most ordinary, common sentence required her to overcome many things and muster great courage to say word by word.
Would Xie Yunli refuse her?
Aunt Zhu thought not, because from what she could see, Xie Yunli had begun to care about Wen Ran. Otherwise, when he had so many choices at any time, why would he specifically choose to come see Wen Ran?
Even if it was concern unrelated to love and marriage, it would still be a very good thing for Wen Ran…
After all, in this world, the two people who had the strongest emotional connection with Wen Ran were gone: one had passed away, and the other had left her because of selfishness.
So even the faintest emotion would be extremely precious.
To make Wen Ran a little happier, Aunt Zhu specifically contacted the person in charge of the rescue station, planning to take Wen Ran to see Kaka. Moreover, they should bring Kaka home soon. These past few days, Wen Ran missed Kaka so much that she would sometimes unconsciously call out Kaka’s name.
If they delayed any longer, more and more people would want to adopt it. With Wen Ran’s situation, they didn’t know if she would be able to adopt it in the end, so this matter needed to be handled as soon as possible.
Of course, the prerequisite was getting Xie Yunli’s consent.
Aunt Zhu asked Wen Ran: “Ranran, to adopt Kaka, we need Mr. Xie’s consent. Should I talk to him about this, or would you like to tell him yourself?”
Wen Ran seemed not to have considered this question. After being slow to respond for a while, she said: “Aunt Zhu, it’s better if I say it, right? But… what if he doesn’t like having a dog in the house?”
This house belonged to Xie Yunli, and Wen Ran had always known this. She had never felt that the couple’s house had any share that belonged to her.
Aunt Zhu said: “It shouldn’t be a problem. Mr. Xie has always been accepting of your ideas. Whatever you want to do or want to have, he has never opposed, right? If you feel you don’t know how to bring it up, perhaps we could try… didn’t you speak to his photo on the phone before? Should I help you send him a message to ask?”
Seeing Aunt Zhu take out her phone, Wen Ran suddenly turned and ran upstairs. After a while, she came running back down. Seeing that she wanted to speak, Aunt Zhu took out her phone again.
Wen Ran paused for a few seconds, then turned and ran upstairs again, lifting her skirt.
This went on several times until Aunt Zhu felt tired just watching her.
However, such things were indeed quite difficult for Wen Ran.
Ordinary people had many ways and languages to express their thoughts, but for autistic patients like Wen Ran, wanting to express their thoughts was truly difficult.
Although under the intervention and guidance of those around them, they had already worked very hard to adapt to this world, they still had an insurmountable gap with this world.
However, having no thoughts and not knowing how to express them were two different things. Aunt Zhu was still very happy that Wen Ran had her own ideas. At least she was no longer that little girl who, aside from painting, had almost no other interests or emotions.
In the evening, before turning off the lights, Aunt Zhu handed her phone to Wen Ran.
Wen Ran took the phone and looked at her blankly.
Aunt Zhu smiled and said: “Say goodnight to Mr. Xie, and if there’s anything else you want to say, you can tell him.”
Only a small night light remained on in the room. Half of Wen Ran’s face was hidden under the blanket, with only her eyes showing.
She looked at Xie Yunli on the phone, gradually looking up from his chin bit by bit until she finally saw his eyes.
What should she say?
About Kaka?
But Kaka was her concern. Would Xie Yunli… care?
“…Goodnight, Xie Yunli.”
She said softly.
“Why do you suddenly want to go to a kennel out of the blue?”
Liang Zeqi said in surprise: “You want to raise a dog? Are you sure you have the time, energy, and patience?”
When asked to suddenly contact his friend who ran a kennel, Liang Zeqi thought he had misheard.
Xie Yunli only said: “Are you going or not? If not, give me the address and I’ll go myself.”
So Liang Zeqi immediately drove over to find him without another word.
Only after getting in the car together did Liang Zeqi learn that he wasn’t picking out a dog for himself, but selecting a puppy to give as a gift.
“Give to whom? Which big client is worth all this trouble, requiring you to personally go and select?”
After Liang Zeqi finished speaking, he suddenly realized something and said incredulously: “Don’t tell me it’s for your wife at home…”
Xie Yunli glanced at him and said flatly: “Yes, she likes dogs.”
From her reaction when she mentioned the puppy that day and those paintings of stray dogs in the basement, Xie Yunli understood that Wen Ran really, really liked dogs.
“No wonder…”
Liang Zeqi sighed: “I was wondering… you yourself never thought about keeping pets.”
Originally thinking that picking a puppy wouldn’t be difficult, but when the two arrived at the kennel, they discovered this matter wasn’t so simple.
Because even Xie Yunli didn’t know what kind of puppy would be suitable to give to Wen Ran.
He only knew that Wen Ran really liked dogs, something she had personally confirmed. Something she could say she liked without hesitation must be something she truly loved from the bottom of her heart…
If he gave her a dog, she should be happy.
The kennel owner asked what breed they wanted. He had many breeds here, and even if he didn’t have what they wanted, he could help find it.
Xie Yunli thought for a moment and said: “Something with a good, gentle temperament, a small to medium-sized dog.”
“That’s easy to arrange.”
The kennel owner brought over some Maltese and mini Bichon Frise puppies that were just a few months old.
Liang Zeqi petted this one and held that one. After a while, he suggested getting a Labrador, which could be trained as a therapy dog or healing dog.
Therapy dogs could provide comfort and warmth to patients, elderly people, disabled children, and others in need through physical contact. He thought this would be quite suitable for Wen Ran, who had autism.
Xie Yunli looked at the dogs of various sizes before him and frowned.
Puppies weren’t like other gifts. Once you owned one, you had to be responsible for its entire lifetime. He suddenly became uncertain whether Wen Ran would be willing to take on this responsibility. After all, many people liked dogs, but liking didn’t necessarily mean wanting to own one.
Suddenly giving her a dog might make her feel pressured.
In the end, Xie Yunli didn’t take a puppy home. Instead, Liang Zeqi took a fancy to several and finally chose a four-month-old Labrador.
“If you really can’t decide what dog to give, you could bring her to choose. I’ll give the owner a heads up to clear his schedule in advance and receive you privately. There won’t be any outsiders, so it should be fine, right?”
Xie Yunli pondered for a moment and said: “I’ve never taken her out before.”
He should say that except for when she first moved to the villa, he had never seen her leave the house.
Although autistic patients had difficulty adapting to society, they inevitably had to enter society and work when they became adults.
So no matter how poorly they adapted, they had to try to gradually overcome their social barriers and choose suitable work for themselves.
True freedom wasn’t being able to do whatever you wanted, but being able to not do what you didn’t want to do.
Even normal, ordinary people sometimes couldn’t control their own destiny, or even their own work. For the sake of living, everyone needed to have a job, regardless of whether they liked it or wanted to do it.
But Wen Ran didn’t need to.
If she could never adapt to this society and never wanted to go out, she could stay forever on her own little planet.
No one would force her to do anything, and neither would he.
If she didn’t want to go out, she could just stay in that home where she felt safe.
But if one day she was willing to come out, he wouldn’t stop her either.
It was just that suddenly learning she had left home for unknown reasons and gone so far away left him with some indescribable feeling.
Xie Yunli looked out the window. Even he himself didn’t know why he had suddenly rushed over to ask those questions today.
Those meaningless questions that even he couldn’t explain clearly, how could she possibly understand them?
The Labrador puppy in Liang Zeqi’s arms suddenly stumbled over to Xie Yunli’s side, sniffing around his hands. Xie Yunli petted its fluffy little head and said: “Puppies are quite lovable.”
“What? Regretting not bringing one back?”
Liang Zeqi reached over to take the puppy back into his arms. “If you regret it, go back and pick one yourself. Don’t get any ideas about my little princess.”
Xie Yunli said: “Don’t worry, I don’t have a habit of taking what others love.”
“You’ve been quite attentive to your wife lately.”
Liang Zeqi looked him over and said: “Don’t tell me you two have been meeting frequently recently?”