Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Zhou Li didn’t return home until noon.

The house seemed to look the same as when he had left and everything appeared untouched. He walked straight to the bedroom and saw the husky lying in the nest. He greeted, “Eggy, I’m home.”

The husky didn’t respond.

Zhou Li walked over and squatted. “Did you miss me?” 

No response.

Zhou Li said, “Other people’s huskies will run over whenever they see their owners come home. How can you be so cold?”

Still no response.

Zhou Li look at the dog and felt that this young master was a little vegetable-like. He picked the other up and ruffled his body, seeing that this guy’s paws had patches of dust clumped in the fur. His face revealed nothing but a steady calmness and he patiently soothed the dog for a while then hugged him downstairs for some fresh air while buying lunch along the way. 

“Are you moved? I was afraid you were lonely, and I ran over as soon as I got off the bus. I didn’t even stop to buy myself food. You should be grateful.” He carried the two stomachs worth of lunches and educated Uncle Dog as he entered the apartment community. When they passed by the flower bed, he gave it a few glances and walked over to pluck out a few blades of grass. He supposed it could be considered a free weeding session for the flower bed. 

Ji Shaoyan watched him plant the new blades in the bottle cap and rearrange the two flowers together as potted plants. His body language showed exactly how unmoved he was.

Zhou Li prepared his meal for him then went off to take a shower. After he came out of the bathroom, he took advantage of the other’s attention being preoccupied by the meal and wandered around in the living room. Sharp eyes focused on the blemished top of the shoe cabinet.

The two men in the Qian family lived a relatively rough lifestyle and the shoe cabinet hadn’t been wiped for some time, made obvious by thin layer of dust lying on the surface. Dog paws stepping over it would definitely leave paw marks, but at this moment, most of the surface seemed to have been randomly wiped down and he couldn’t see a trace of evidence. It had obviously been dealt with.

So, it turns out Young Master Ji had tried to open the door.

Zhou Li’s mind turned and he ended up thinking out the young master’s current state. With their anti-theft door having a round doorknob, he guessed that either the young master couldn’t reach it, or that his paws weren’t able to use the round foor handle. Either that, or is was inconvenient to do anything while one of his front legs was tied with fixing tape. 

In other words, at least until the injury heals, this young master can’t run away.

He immediately became optimistic. After eating lunch happily in the living room he took Uncle Dog who had also finished eating out and turned on the TV, then spread out playing cards on the sofa, saying to the other, “Come, draw a card. “

Ji Shaoyan didn’t understand what this mini event was for.

But since he realised there was no way for him to escape, he knew that he had to continue to get along with this silly fool. So this time, he gave the other some care, tilting his head up for their eyes to meet.

Zhou Li said, “See this remote control? Now I’ll give you an opportunity. You can draw any card you want. Whatever you choose, I will advance the channels in accordance to the number. No matter what it lands on, I will stay with you to watch.”

Ji Shaoyan mentally replied with a “no need” and remained still.

Zhou Li said, “If you don’t draw then I’ll just choose what I like.”

Ji Shaoyan heard him start to speak and interjected halfway, leaning over and pushing at the cards twice, thinking that he might as well. Pretending to not understand anything, he pressed down on one of the cards at random.

Zhou Li turned it over and saw that it was the red 3 of hearts, so he held the remote control and pressed it three times. A very familiar soundtrack instantly played. It was the opening song of《Princess Niu Hulu》.

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li immediately scooped him into a hug and rubbed his body. “Eggy, I’m so touched, you are too kind to me!”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

He kind of wanted to return to the nest.

However, it was impossible to return to the nest.

He was hugged by Silly Fool then let go and placed on the other’s lap. Watching as the mentally ill person laughed until his entire body was trembling and staying in this state for an entire afternoon, he was only allowed to go back for his afternoon nap after the two of them had finished watching the episode. 

Qian Duoshu came back while they were sleeping.

He was forced to work overtime had pent up anger. Seeing his son’s ‘just woke up’ appearance, he furiously shouted, “Didn’t I fucking tell you not to sleep at this time!”

Zhou Li said, “It’s not like I need to cook.”

Qian Duoshu stormed in his direction and opened his mouth to curse, then appeared to remember something after taking two steps. He abruptly lassoed in his wrath and said, “If you can’t then get in here and learn!”

Zhou Li said, “Next time ba.”

Qian Duoshu said, “Just this time, once you learn how then you’ll be the one cooking in the future. Laozi works his ass off all day outside to make money, yet I still have to wait on you when I come back. How can you sit back and do nothing!”

Zhou Li looked at him, eyes wandering up and down. “With your current state, aren’t you scared of calling me stupid and handing me a knife?”

Qian Duoshu was enraged. “Are you even saying human words?!”

Zhou Li kept his own pace, drawling, “Giving me a knife isn’t what you should be focusing on. The most pressing matter is that if I have the strength to survive then I will return with ten knives. Are you sure you want to teach me now?”

Qian Duoshu was suddenly angered to the point of spouting smoke through his seven orifices and was about to march over to give the boy a beating but only saw the other standing motionlessly. He showed no signs of resisting, as if he was waiting for the punches to be over so it could be his turn to repay tenfold. The corners of his mouth held a taunting smile, just like the one he wore last night.

In an instant, his head seemed to have been splashed with ice water and he calmed down a bit. He gasped a few times and glanced at his son, then turned back into his room to change his clothes.

Ji Shaoyan watched from the side, in a quite unpleasant mood.

For him to not have the means to escape meant that in addition to a schizophrenic silly fool, he had to live under the same roof as a domestically violent middle-aged man.

He couldn’t help but sweep his eyes over to Zhou Li. Seeing the other boy’s indifferent face, he didn’t know if this silly fool had any other way to deal with hidden dangers other than beating people and doubling back the pain. His plans were always ‘kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of your own’, which didn’t seem to be very worthwhile.

Zhou Li noticed his gaze so he picked the other up into a hug and tousled his fur.

He didn’t know if his eyes were tricking him, but this uncle seemed to pay a little more attention to him today, unlike the previous thorough ignorance.

He was happy for long time and cuddled the other for a while more, then went downstairs to buy food for Uncle Dog.

By the time they made their trip back, Qian Duoshu just finished cooking and the father and son sat down to eat the meal in relative silence, passing the night peacefully.

Qian Duoshu finally didn’t have to go to work the next day and started to teach his son how to cook.

Zhou Li had a good temper, so when others talked to him with no muss or fuss then he will naturally willing to be compliant with them. Besides, this man technically was the one who cared for and raised this shell, and credit where credit is due*, so he followed the man into the kitchen with a serious attitude.

[T/N: 吃人嘴短: English proverb is most similar to ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’]

The plastic father and son made a table spread for lunch and there was a rare harmonious atmosphere in the house.

Qian Duoshu suddenly regained some of the mood he had while taking his son out to play in the past and was about to take the opportunity to have a heart-felt talk with his son again when he was interrupted by the courier. 

The courier had sent his son’s online shopping.

Unpacking the box, he found it to be full of pet toothpaste, toothbrushes, bath gels, and more. He suddenly became sour. “You treat it better than me.”

Zhou Li thought this was an obvious fact. “That’s because Eggy doesn’t bite me.”

Qian Duoshu said, “I am your father!”

Zhou Li spread his hands. “Sorry. After my personality awakened I was met with you beating me, beating me, and beating me. Say, if it were you, what would you do?”

Qian Duoshu said, “I was…that was…”

“That was the last resort, because it was I who ticked you off, right ba?” Zhou Li looked at him. “Actually search your conscience. Do you even believe it yourself?”

Qian Duoshu choked.

Zhou Li took the package into the bathroom and came back to sit at the table, turning his attention to the man and began to discuss. “How’s this ba. If you can hold yourself back from beating me for a week, I will also buy things for you from Taobao.”

Qian Duoshu’s expression softened. “That’s easy.”

Zhou Li laughed “hehe”* in his heart, choosing not to express his own opinion.

[T/N: more like heh heh (breathy), mocking laugh, just short of a chuckle]

The rest of the day went smoothly. In the evening, Zhou Li tried brushing a dog’s teeth for the first time in his life. Fortunately, it was a human occupying this dog’s shell and the whole operation proceeded smoothly.

Ji Shaoyan was very comfortable as he was being waited on, and when he was put back into his nest, he wandered back by his own initiative.

Zhou Li happened to just be finishing up with cleaning the sink and was taken aback when he saw this free roaming dog. “What are you doing?”

Ji Shaoyan squatted under the showerhead and stared at him.

Zhou Li had an epiphany and went forward to check on his injury, finding that the scab was close to falling off. He said, “You’re recovering pretty well ah.”

Ji Shaoyan continued to stare at him.

Zhou Li picked him up and mercilessly dropped him back in the bedroom. “Should take another two days.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

The next day had Monday rolling around again and Qian Duoshu had left early.

Zhou Li used his computer and carefully searched up on information for the whole morning, fed lunch to the dog, took a short break, then went out to the district commercial centre. He wandered around the electronics area of the commercial building and quickly saw the sign he was looking for.

He watched from the side for a while until he saw a guest walk in and go straight to the counter. And then, he walked forward slowly.

The owner was a woman in her thirties and smiled when she saw him come in. While helping the current customer, she briefly greeted him, “Look for a digital camera? We have promotions this month and right now is the most suitable time to buy one.”

Zhou Li nodded, attentively watching and listening to the conversation between the owner and the customer, before he interrupted at a certain point, “This RX is indeed really good, with a 180-degree flip screen, high-speed focus, and more than 30 million pixels. My friend has this exact model.”

Among his group of friends were a few photographers. He has come into contact with some parts in this area before so what he said appeared to be more professional than the boss herself. The customer originally came for this brand and wanted to purchase it. Upon hearing his introduction and recommendation, he ordered the camera on the spot.

The boss owner suddenly grinned, and once she sent the customer away, she turned all her enthusiasm to Zhou Li, asking him what model he wanted.

Zhou Li said, “I’m just taking a look first, I won’t be buying anything today…”

He said after a brief pause, while pointing to a woman standing not too far away, “See her? if she comes over, you can sell more than just one item.” 

The owner curiously asked, “Why? “

Zhou Li said, “That watch on her is worth no less than six digits. She’s not going to miss any money spent on cameras. If you can impress her, she will buy it on the spot.” 

The owner widened her eyes in surprise. “Really?”

Zhou Li said, “En, for these things, I have a good vision.”

Although the brands of this world were slightly different to that from his, he had lived as a young master for a lifetime. Whether something was of bad or good quality, he can tell it apart with just one glimpse.

He had guessed correctly. When the customer walked over, the boss complimented her and was able to sell off another camera.

She looked at Zhou Li with sprarkling eyes, she straightforwardly offered him a discount for whenever he wanted to buy something.

Zhou Li smiled and said, “I don’t need discounts. Jie*, do you know if there are any shops in this mall who are looking for summer part-timers? I want to find work.”

[T/N: older sister]

The boss’ eyes brightened. “Just come here ah, I’ll hire you!”

Zhou Li’s expression was fitted just right. “Really?”

The owner said, “Really ah, what do you say?”

Zhou Li naturally agreed in a heartbeat and they quickly settled the matter.

Just wait until this weekend, when Song Yingshi clocks into work, she will see her new colleague. Perfect.

The author has something to say:

Zhou Li: After this little master finishes reviewing the goodwill between this couple, I can finally spend my time alone