Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Zhou Li buried his head in the husky’s fur and stayed for five or six seconds before raising again, showing his strait-laced face.

His little brothers looked at him. “Ying-ge?”

Zhou Li said, “Oh, there was something on my face just now so I had to wipe it off.” 

The little brothers: “…You just wanted to laugh ba!”

Zhou Li seriously remarked, “How can that be? You guys are able to start your own business, Ge is very pleased.”

It’s just that they were too tragic.

This was the first time in his life that he’s met such tragic and comical entrepreneurs, but when he thought about how this part-time job was technically something instigated by him, he didn’t feel it was right to discourage their enthusiasm, so he could only bow his head and bury his face in the husky’s fur once more. 

Ji Shaoyan looked straight ahead blankly with nothing but disgust in his heart.

The little brothers stared at him as one.

Even if we’re brothers, we’re about this close to beating you ah!

When it came to feeling depressed, if you bear something like this alone, you’ll probably feel even more depressed the longer you think about it.

But they were seven people, so once they got together to brag about themselves, feelings of depression quickly switched to being unconvinced, and they believed that it wasn’t as if they’ll earn no money at all from this tactic. So, when someone suggested that they could sell things at the market, they received unanimous approval.

However, while thinking about it seemed simple enough, to really sit here was an entirely different matter.

As the local Young and Dangerous Gangsters that were “respected and renowned”*, it would be too shameful to meet acquaintances in this setting. Some of the boys in the group wanted to split away and go for a walk but they were all held down by the rest, so in the end they all decided on “losing together”. In the end, following the principle of “if one flakes, we all flake”, they shrank into a ball and became a nest of quails.

[T/N: literally, with a head and face (though this is only for the other ‘gangsters’ in the area, I’m guessing)]

Alas, their orderly outfits were too eye-catching and everyone walking by was sure to look at them in passing.

The small group endured this for five minutes until one of them was possessed by the spirit of Zhu Bajie*, who was about to say something along the lines of dividing the leftover baggage so they can return to their hometowns. This was until they saw Ying-ge.

[T/N: character from Journey to the West, known for his extreme laziness (among other things)]

Even worse, they discovered that there was no scale.

It was as if all the face* they accumulated over the years have been thrown away today.

[T/N: to have dignity/respect]

Zhou Li nonchalantly lifted his head and asked, “You’ve been here for how long?”

The quails didn’t want to answer.

Zhou Li raised his voice slightly. “En?”

Their leader, who was Er-ge, said, “Just…not too long.”

Zhou Li said, “And what are your plans now?”

“What else can we do, we don’t even have a scale. We’ll just go home bei.” As Er-ge spoke, he tore off a plastic bag——thank the gods and the heavens, they at least know to buy plastic bags.

He put the vegetables in the bag and handed it to Ying-ge. “Here, no need to pay, just take it ba.”

Zhou Li didn’t take it and asked with a smile, ” Where did you get the vegetables from?” 

Er-ge said, “Went to the village to harvest time. They’re all grown by Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu’s relatives.” 

[T/N: Xiao Wu = Little Five, Xiao Liu = Little Six]

Zhou Li nodded, thinking that as long as they weren’t stolen, it was fine.

He had enough fun and was finally compassionate enough to give them an idea, telling them to put the vegetables into the plastic bags as evenly as possible. Once a total of twelve bags were packed, they put them back on the cloth and he told them, “Shout ba, two yuan for a bag.” 

The quails were too afraid to, unable to get past the hurdles in their hearts.

Zhou Li said, “Then let’s do this, rock paper scissors, whoever loses is the one who shouts. One go, one round.” 

Only with this negotiation did the little brothers become obedient and they even managed to rope in Ying-ge, who was watching the excitement.

Eight people formed a circle to compete in the first round and the instigator won first place.

Zhou Li: “……”

All the little brothers: “Hahahahaha!” 

The small group were thrilled and felt that their grievances were avenged. “Quickly, you said it yourself.”

Zhou Li helplessly smiled.

He has always been able to handle whatever was thrown at him. Other than that embarrassing time when he asked them for money, he really hasn’t been embarrassed any other time after that, so he shouted without pressure.

The little brothers were immediately convinced.

Sure enough, their Ying-ge was truly someone who did great things!

With Zhou Li was the opening act, the rest ran much more smoothly.

Some passerbys were already paying attention to them since long ago, all wondering which households these bear children* belonged to. They all found this group quite interesting and by the time these kids were on their third round of shouting they stepped forward and bought a bag of vegetables.

[T/N: mischievous children]

If there was one then there will be two, and this year no one will short of two yuan.

In about ten minutes, they sold eleven of the twelve bags of vegetables and left the remaining bag to honour Ying-ge. Zhou Li did not intend to be courteous and reached out to accept it then asked, “How much did you spend on the vegetables?”

Er-ge said. “Just a few yuan. “

Zhou Li commended, “Very good, you made a profit.”

The little brothers were no longer suffering from their previous embarrassments and all wore a a look of joy, feeling that even their backs were straighter than before.

Er-ge roared with laughter and swung an arm over his shoulders, boldy announcing, “Let’s go, we’ll treat you to a meal.”

Zhou Li wore a facsimile of a smile. “You guys earned enough money to treat me to a meal?”

Er-ge choked.

Zhou Li smiled and patted his arms, indicating for the other to let go. “Okay, you’ve messed around for a whole day. It’s time to go home ba.”

He bought the husky’s dinner and some other dishes along the way, then hugged Uncle Dog home and happened to see Qian Duoshu enter through the door.

The other’s expression was as if he had seen storm clouds approaching but Zhou Li’s executor heart worked very well. Qian Duoshu didn’t start a fire and only glanced at him gloomily, motioning for him to put the vegetables in the kitchen and then went to change his clothes to start cooking.

Two people and one dog calmly passed the night, then went off to rest separately.

Before going to bed, Zhou Li wiped Master Dog down as usual, and just as he was about to drop him back into the nest, his eyes suddenly passed over the sunflower. He hugged Uncle Dog back outside. 

Ji Shaoyan: ?

Zhou Li seriously said, “The sunflower’s music doesn’t sound nice, so I have decided to sing you a song every night.”

No need, thank you.

Ji Shaoyan broke away from him, turned to leave, and was immediately held down.

Zhou Li made up his mind to wash away his shame. This time there was no attempt at a high pitch and he sang a round of《Little Star》under the gaze of Uncle Dog, then put him back into the nest before he climbed into his bed, content.

Sleeping through the night until he woke up naturally, the only thing Zhou Li felt once he opened his eyes was his two sore and burning arms. It was probably from hugging the husky around through all of yesterday.

Although this husky was still a cub, he had some weight to him. Wandering around the market hugging this guy in his arms, there were bound to be side effects.

He slowly rolled out of bed while rubbing his arms, and looked at the eyes open, unshakable by thunder*, lying flat in his nest husky, and said, “Eggy, have you been eating too much lately? I hugged you all afternoon yesterday and now my arms are useless.”

[T/N: going along with whatever happens]

Deserved.

Young Master Ji was happy and he ate a few more bites for breakfast today.

Zhou Li squatted in front of him and could see the bottom of the bowl. He said, “This is the first time you’ve finished your meal. Are you deliberately targeting me because of what I said when I woke up?”

Ji Shaoyan turned a deaf ear and returned to his nest.

Zhou Li held him back, picking him up and staring at his face. “I seem to have found a problem. Other than being spiritual*, I don’t think you’ve ever howled. Aren’t husky’s meant to howl all day?” 

[T/N: intelligent, as in gaining spiritual awareness]

He narrowed his eyes. “Could it be…”

Ji Shaoyan’s heart lightly skipped a beat. He wasn’t sure what conclusion this silly fool had come to.

Zhou Li said, “Could it be that you are too spiritual, so God closed the window on you and turned you into a mute ba?”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li hugged him and ruffled his fur, then sighed, “My poor Eggy. Don’t be afraid, I’ll have the doctor give you a check during our next visit.”

Ji Shaoyan laid calmly in his arms, pretending that this guy didn’t exist.

Today was Saturday and it was supposed to be a resting day.

But Qian Duoshu’s company that was on the verge of shutting down seemed to be up to something or other and the employees were to forced to work overtime, so Qian Duoshu left early in the morning. Zhou Li was delighted at this turn of events. Once he took a break after his meal, he brushed his fingers through the husky’s fur, saying, “Eggy, I will have to accompany the others to find a job. I won’t lock you up today, stay home and be obedient.”

Of course, finding a job was just talk. After all, they already went all around looking for one yesterday.

As for that WeChat group, it is said that all the jobs lined up for this week have already been taken and the little brothers will have to wait until next week for a chance to snatch one, so that meant they were all staying at home today.

Zhou Li really didn’t want the husky to be locked up when has to go out again because he felt that such a practice was not proper.

So, after assessing the house’s front door yesterday, he wanted to carry out an experiment to see if the husky was able to escape outside. If the young master was able, he will have to think of other ways, if not, then naturally everyone will be happy.

He walked quickly, wanting to find a shady spot where he had full view of the building, then stood there and quietly stared.

Ji Shaoyan had already woken up at this time.

He wandered around the living room for about ten minutes and made a rough guesstimate that Silly Fool had already walked some distance away by now. Only then did he step foot into Qian Duoshu’s bedroom and found that he had guessed right. The office worker Qian Duoshu had a computer set up in his room.

The jumping ability of a dog could not be compared to that of a cat and what’s more, one of his front paws was currently misplaced and even taped with fixing bandages, so it took a lot of effort and work to climb up the desk and turn on the computer.

Luck was on his side. Qian Duoshu did not set a log-in password.

Ji Shaoyan first searched his family’s company and found that there had been no news about his car accident, so he knew that this topic must’ve been suppressed. He stared at the computer desktop, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally chose to shut down.

If someone else was in his metaphorical shoes, they may be eager to contact their friends.

But Ji Shaoyan Ji was not like that; he has always been calm. Since he had only been missing for a few days, he was worried that his little brother might send someone to monitor his accounts on social media and be able to find him from those. Although his little brother didn’t have that high of an IQ, there was a possibility that someone behind him was the brains of this operation.

It was better to delay things for a while.

After finalising his decision, he carefully stepped down from the computer desk and returned to the living room, looking up at the front door.

Next to the front door was the shoe cabinet, and beside the cabinet was the sofa. 

He observed the layout a few times over and climbed up the shoe cabinet with the patience he used during his trek up the computer desk, then stretched out his paws to place on the door handle, applied more force, and opened it.

Young Master Ji was immediately satisfied and moved his body forward steadily, stretching out his paws again, then froze——his paws were too short. Too short to reach the security door at the back.

The author has something to say:

Zhou Li: Watching and waiting, just when will he come down?