The meal didn't last too long, as Mengyao was in a hurry to return to her ward.
After they parted ways, Mengqi and Yao Feili escorted Mengyao back to the hospital, while Susu and Tianyi also went home by car.
Susu and Mengqi added each other on WeChat. It had been a long time since she had attended any public events, partly because she disliked socializing and partly because Tianyi handled all external family matters, so she didn't need to worry much.
She didn't have grand ambitions either; she preferred to spend her time at home with the children and doing things she enjoyed.
Upon returning home, they had just walked into the villa when they heard a dog barking. They were somewhat surprised to find a dog in the house.
As they were wondering, they saw Tiantian running out of the playroom, holding a small puppy, and happily running towards them. She held up the little dog for them to see.
Susu looked at the puppy. It had round eyes, a round head, and an innocent expression, making it very cute.
Seeing this, Tianyi took the puppy from Tiantian and said, "Where did this dog come from? Has it had its shots? What if it bites you?"
"Daddy, give the dog back to me!" Tiantian said anxiously. "I found it in the yard. It's very well-behaved and won't bite!"
At this moment, Xiaomei also came out with Hengheng and Tangtang, saying, "Young Master, I don't know how this dog got into the back garden. After Miss Tiantian found it, I gave it a bath. It was quite docile during the bath."
Tiantian stood on tiptoe, trying to reach the puppy in Tianyi's hand, and was on the verge of tears. "Give the dog back to me. Auntie Xiaomei also said it's well-behaved."
Susu saw that Tianyi had been holding the dog by its neck for a while. The dog had kept its legs curled up, not struggling or trying to bite back. It was indeed very well-behaved. She said, "Tianyi, give it back to her. This little dog is quite well-behaved, and since it's been bathed, it's not that dirty. I'll take the puppy to the pet store for vaccinations tomorrow."
Tianyi looked at the puppy again before handing it back to Tiantian, cautioning, "Don't put your hands in its mouth, don't pull its tail, and absolutely do not let it sleep on the bed."
"Okay," Tiantian said happily, hugging the puppy again. "Daddy, Mommy, you're agreeing to let us keep this dog."
Susu smiled and nodded, then nudged Tianyi, asking him to make his stance clear to the children.
He could only nod with a stern expression. Tiantian happily turned and said to Hengheng and Tangtang, "Let's take the puppy to the garden to play and give it a name."
"How about Huahua?" Tangtang suggested.
"Huahua is a girl's name. Do you think it's a girl or a boy..."
Susu watched the children run off to the garden, laughing and talking, and couldn't help but smile. It reminded her of her past at the orphanage.
When she was little, she had also found a dirty puppy at the orphanage. However, the conditions at the time did not allow for adoption, so she could only secretly feed the puppy.
She had fed the puppy for about half a year. One day, as usual, she went to feed it near the haystack where it usually stayed, but the puppy was nowhere to be seen.
She searched for a long time afterwards, scouring almost every corner of the orphanage, but she never found the puppy again. She didn't know where it had gone.
Susu preferred to think of the best outcome. It must have left the orphanage on its own and gone up the mountain behind it. By being fed by people, it learned to find its own food, and the forest was its paradise.
Tianyi saw that she was lost in thought, with tears seemingly in her eyes. He hugged her and asked, "What's wrong? You always say Tiantian shouldn't be spoiled, so why are you letting her keep a stray dog now?"
"Didn't you see that Hengheng and Tangtang also like this puppy? And this puppy reminds me of the stray dog I used to feed at the orphanage."
Tianyi could sense that her memories were mostly sad and didn't press further. He hugged her and led her upstairs, saying, "The three of them have the puppy to play with, so they won't bother us. Let's go back to our room first."
After returning to the bedroom, they changed into their home clothes.
Tianyi said to her, "You rest. I'll go to the study and contact the foreign neurosurgeons right away to arrange a time for Song Jiaping's surgery as soon as possible."
"Will Dr. Song's surgery be alright?" Susu grabbed his arm. Thinking of how worried Mengyao was, she also hoped the surgery would be successful.
Tianyi looked at her and said, "All surgeries carry risks, and no one can guarantee anything. But I believe in the skills of that top expert. Think about it, Song Jiaping is in danger whether he has the surgery or not. Why not take a chance?"
Susu nodded and let go of him.
After he went to the study, Susu was alone in the room and began to remove her makeup.
She knew that choosing surgery was the right decision, and the logic was sound. However, if the surgery were to fail, Mengyao would likely find it difficult to bear the worst outcome.
Susu sighed at her reflection in the mirror. Just then, her phone beeped.
It was a message from Mengqi. Susu opened it and saw an invitation to a charity gala the next day.
Susu saw that the theme of the invitation was environmental fundraising, which she found somewhat novel. It turned out that environmental protection could also be a cause for fundraising.
"Received," she replied.
Mengqi quickly sent another message, "Remember to dress as beautifully as possible. See you tomorrow night."
Susu replied with an "Okay" and a smiley face.
Mengqi's message meant she should dress up nicely. Since Mengqi was taking her to the gala, she couldn't let her down.
But which dress should she choose for tomorrow night?
She went to the walk-in closet and looked through the long row of dresses, most of which she had only worn once. She couldn't decide which one to pick.
Susu thought about the environmental fundraising theme of the charity gala tomorrow night and picked out a light green dress adorned with white crystals. She held it up against the full-length mirror and thought it should be suitable for the occasion.
She suddenly saw Tianyi appear in the mirror. She turned to him and asked, "Have you contacted them?"
Tianyi glanced at the dress in her hand and said, "Yes, I've contacted them. The expert can come to Lancheng as early as next week."
Susu immediately reached for her phone, saying, "I'll tell Mengyao right now."
"No need," Tianyi said, holding her back. "I'll have the expert contact Mengyao directly. They had already been in touch. We are just facilitators, and passing messages in between might not be ideal. It's better for them to communicate directly."
"You're right," Susu said. She stood back in front of the mirror, holding the dress, and linked her arm with his.
Tianyi asked, "Why are you suddenly taking out this dress?"
"I asked Mengqi about the charity fundraising during dinner tonight. She said she would take me to a charity gala tomorrow night and introduce me to some people."
"What charity gala?" Tianyi asked.
Susu handed the dress to him and went to get her phone, showing him the invitation. "Will you accompany me tomorrow night?"
Tianyi looked at the invitation and said, "These kinds of charity galas are mostly for women, so I won't go. I have to work overtime tomorrow night to review a project. Although An Jing is back, Lan Yu is pregnant, and he's only thinking about staying home with Lan Yu and hasn't returned to the group yet."
"Alright, it's the same with Mengqi accompanying me," Susu said, then began to tie her hair up in front of the mirror, wondering whether to wear her hair up or down with this dress.