Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

“Maybe, it really did get lost accidentally and its owner is just casually wealthy but happened to know the organiser of the pet competition, so they asked for help.”

Song Yingshi tried to tidy up whatever was rolling around in his head. “Or maybe, its owner specialises in training dogs. Happy became so smart because of all the training. Since they could be a person working in this field, the owner and the event organiser are likely to know each other…or, if they don’t, maybe the owner knew about the competition and privately printed out their own flyers.”

She thought about things a bit more. “There’s another possibility, that these two things are completely unrelated. Maybe Happy’s owner didn’t want to spend too much money to find it, so they just hung up some missing-dog posters. We can’t think of too badly of them just based on these flyers ah.“

Of course, Zhou Li also knew that his own reasoning was beyond ridiculous and was willing to accept her views. “En, what you said is also reasonable, but you can’t deny that everything about this is kind of suspicious, right ba?”

At this, Song Yingshi admitted that he was also right.

A parking lot filled with luxurious cars, a city-held event that came to distribute flyers in their small town market, even if they didn’t understand how these things correlate with each other, it really was a little strange.

Zhou Li said, “So, I’m saying that we shouldn’t contact them for now. I’ve already come up with a solution. Maybe I can find out who was the one who stuck of these missing posters, but don’t take him out for a few days, wait until I’ve investigated and then we can discuss our next course of plan.”

Song Yingshi curiously asked, “What’s your solution?”

Zhou Li said, “I’m not sure it’ll work or not. If it does, I’ll tell you.”

He didn’t stay for any longer than he had to and left after touching Uncle Dog’s head. 

Once he left her house, he went to join up with his little brothers.

They already sorted out their plan last night. If they wanted to know what type of person the one who stuck up the missing posters was, they should just tear them all down. Of course, they couldn’t do this themselves. They had to get someone else to do it.

Zhou Li had found that Xiangman Town had some documents on ‘the construction of a beautiful village’*, so he ordered a little brother to buy a new phone number, planning to use this number to call the town government.

[T/N: I think it’s like a community aim? A ‘how to make a perfect village’ sort of flyer]

After a wave of his strong brainwashing last night, the little brothers all accepted his belief that Eggy was the product of an experiment.

Because they had been in contact with Eggy for a long time, they began to suspect that it wasn’t an ordinary husky after thinking a little about his behaviour. It was easy for the idiotic teens to overthink once their brains were provided with just the right push. In one move, they all believed that they were the antagonists to certain dark forces and were now incredibly cautious.

Er-ge said: “You can’t just say that there’s a few missing-dog posters ba? What if the enemy has already infiltrated the government? What if they find us?”

Zhou Li said, “I know, I’ve thought of a way.”

He shared his plan with the others and looked at the group of teenagers. “Who wants to?”

All the little brothers silently looked at him, feeling incompetent. They were afraid of bursting out in laughter.

In the end, Zhou Li carried the flag* and dialled the office number, and was instantly possessed by the ghost of an actor. He choked, “Wei, is this the town’s government?” 

[T/N: take up an important leadership position]

The employee on the other end of the call heard that his tone was somewhat off and suddenly became a little more careful with her tone. “Yes, what can I do for you*?”

[T/N: honourable form of you, ZL does not use this]

Zhou Li deliberately took in a sharp breath and said dumbly, “Can I ask, are you guys the ones in charge of cleaning up the small advertisements in the village ba?”

The employee said, “We are, if you have any inquiries about this matter, I can give you the number for the office that deals with the town’s appearance…”

Zhou Li did not wait for her to finish her sentence and suddenly raised his volume. “If you guys are in charge, then how do you guys operate your management? Why aren’t you cleaning things up? My brother…my brother, he…he mistakenly believed the stuff on those andrology ads, and now he’s about to cut off his kids and grandkids!”

The other side: “……”

Zhou Li sadly said, “Saying it’ll be cured after treatment, what a load of bullshit! The more you treat it, the worse it’ll get!”

The other side: “……”

Zhou Li said, “And you guys, don’t you want to build a beautiful village? Is this how you’re building them? You’re letting these stupid advertisements poison us! I’m telling you, my brother was almost going to hang himself at the door of your management department last night, and I was the one who stopped him, understand?” 

The other side finally recovered and hurriedly consoled him with a warm voice, asking him which area he was from so they could send someone to clean it up.

Zhou Li said, “You guys come down and take a look, just what village doesn’t have any adverts?”

He paused slightly and pulled the phone away from his face on purpose. “Huh? The reporter is coming for an interview? Ai, wait up, I’ll be over in a sec…” He stuck the phone back against his cheek and said, “I still have something to do here, but anyway, we’ve reported the situation to you guys, and I also know that things like ads can’t be prevented, so can you guys come and clean it up as soon as possible? Thanks, I’m hanging up now.” 

The government staff heard his busy tone and wiped her forehead, working up a cold sweat.

Was there actually interference from the media? Right, something as absurd as this, how could the media let it go? But if the media cuts in, who knows what kinds of things they’ll will write!

She hurriedly reported the situation to the management leader.

So, in less than an hour, the little boys saw that the town’s branch government had sent someone to run over and make sure the utility poles were a clean slate.

Little brothers: “……”

Powerful!

Powerful in capital letters!

[T/N: literally, ‘convinced’, as in they are convinced ZL is very powerful/influencial]

Xiao Wu said, “If they realise nothing happened, won’t they be suspicious?”

Zhou Li said, “Is that not why I’m using a new number?”

The only possible problem is that the scope will be reduced, but compared to the circle shrinking around the apartment community, it was better for the entire village to be targeted.

He quickly went through a mental checklist and asked some of the brothers who lived in the village to pay attention to any movements. The posters that were painstakingly stuck up had all be torn down, so it was impossible for the ‘owner’ to leave them alone. There was a high probability that they will either come to take a look personally, or simply stick them up again.

The little brothers were exceedingly impressed with him and fervently nodded.

Two days passed by quietly*. On the third day, Xiao Wu posted a photo in the group chat of a young man climbing out of a car. With trembling hands, he typed out a line: He shook his hands and tapped a line of words: Ying-ge, it’s Master Lin’s people.

[T/N: literally, breeze is still, waves are quiet]

As soon as this sentence was written, the group panicked*.

[T/N: literally, thrown into frying oil (agitated)]

After experiencing the “10,000 yuan” incident, they all developed a psychological shadow towards Master Lin.

Lao San: Fuck ah, that perverted experimenting organisation really is working under that dark force. If Master Lin is involved in this, then the mastermind behind all this must be the second master ah!

Er-ge: Are you sure it’s Master Lin’s people?

Xiao Wu: En, I’ve seen him before.

Xiao Liu: We’re finished. Has Master Lin seen Eggy before?

Er-ge: Fuck, he has!

Lao San: Fuck!!! 

Zhou Li watched as they threw themselves into hysteria and comforted them: Don’t panic, back then, his attention was not on Eggy. He definitely isn’t interested in Eggy, otherwise he would’ve come to our doors a long time ago.

But having said that, he was a little surprised that the other party would do something like this.

He thought that for them to be able to stick up all the missing-dog posters in one day, it was more than likely that they searched for people living around here to do the job, so he decided to find out who were the hired-hands. He had a rough idea on who it was and tried asking about the situation over at the village. It was as he had guessed; part-timers were the ones who put the posters up. What he didn’t expect was that the orders came from the second master.

Er Ye was someone from Xiangman Town who occupied half of the Liuxi District. His subordinates were naturally familiar with this place, so he must’ve let those subordinates come out to find a few workers with no difficulty.

The most outstanding point was that for the other side to come to Er Ye to ask for help, they must have considered all possibilities. This option can only be chosen if the other party had no other choice under the constraints of time.

He contemplated for a few seconds, then explained to the group: Don’t bother with this anymore, you guys should just treat it as something you have knowledge of.

The little brothers did not dare, all worried out of their minds.

Finding out that the second master was intervening in this matter, they completely believed in the experiment theory. What can’t these dark forces do? If they don’t worry about this, maybe one day when they open their eyes, their Ying-ge will disappear from the face of the earth!

Er-ge: We said in the beginning already, enjoy blessings together, endure misfortunes together. Otherwise, how could we be called your brothers!

Xiao Liu: How about we call the police?

Fa Cai 7: Are you stupid ah, do you think people will believe us with no evidence?

Xiao Liu: Isn’t there Eggy?

Er-ge: Oh, go tell someone you have a mutated husky while holding Eggy, do you want to send the police uncle a fun present on such a hot day?

Xiao Liu: Then what do you guys think we should do?

Lao San: Generally, with this kind of overlord ba, there must be a hostile camp. Should we find some allies?

Zhou Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, thinking that these boys have watched one too many movies.

He patiently tried to make them think logically, telling them that everything they were coming up with may be a little too coincidental and how right now wasn’t the time to jump the gun. They should wait a while longer before making assumptions.

Er-ge: But what about Song Yingshi?

Zhou Li: I’ll go over to tell her. You guys just have fun, act as if you don’t know. Be extremely careful not to leak anything. 

The little brothers promised him one after the other, saying they will try not to let anything out.

Zhou Li was still a little on edge and requested their secrecy a few more times, then clicked on Song Yingshi’s profile so they could make an appointment to meet up tomorrow.

The next morning, he arrived at Song Yingshi’s house again.

Song Yingshi opened the door with a bright look. She excitedly exclaimed, “It’s finally willing to play games with me today!”

Zhou Li glanced in the direction of the sofa and saw Young Master Ji sitting in front of a familiar husky head. He couldn’t help raising his eyebrows.

Yes, you two are worthy of being the hero and the heroine. Soon, we can celebrate this newly married couple! 

Ji Shaoyan looked at Silly Fool with a cold, cold gaze.

He originally didn’t want to interact with Song Yingshi at all, but Silly Fool pulled out his ‘experimental animal’ theory and stamped him with the label ‘high IQ’. In order to convince Song Yingshi, he reluctantly agreed to play a game with her. Just when he was growing increasingly annoyed, he saw the culprit.

Seeing that the future couple were already so close, Zhou Li didn’t go over to pet his fur and instead sat down on the solo sofa, congratulating her. “Who’s won more rounds?”

Song Yingshi laughed, “We were just starting to play.”

As she said this, Song Yingshi pressed down on a tooth. After waiting for a while, she saw that Happy didn’t make any movements, so she thought that the interruption of a visitor might have diverted his attention. 

She felt that having the husky be willing to play games with her was amazing in itself so she picked it up and placed the dog on her lap so she could stroke its fur. When she was about to make the third stroke, her hand was suddenly stopped by a paw.

She looked down and was confronted with the disgusted face of a husky.

Ji Shaoyan pushed her hand away a little and stood up from her lap, turning his head to leap off the sofa then jump up on the one-seater sofa to its side. He stepped onto Silly Fool’s lap and flopped down, then ceased all other movements.

Zhou Li: “……”

Song Yingshi: “……” 

The living room went silent.

Song Yingshi has always been cheerful and considerate, and started laughing after the moment of silence. “You didn’t hug it when you came in today, so it wasn’t content.”

From her view, Zhou Li was Happy’s former owner. Since it has only been a few days since their separation, Happy should still be clingy towards him. 

However, Zhou Li didn’t quite grasp the intentions behind Uncle Dog’s weird act, and his whole person was stuck in a dumfounded state of “who am I, where I am”. He looked at the uncle dog on his lap and subconsciously reached his hands out to ruffle the fur. When he saw the little tail wag lightly in the air, there was suddenly an even stronger sense of confusion.

No wait, Young Master, what happened to you?

Weren’t you just acting sweet with your little girlfriend? You’re breaking it off just like this?

Ji Shaoyan didn’t even spare him a look, continuing to lie still.

He was still unhappy… No, strictly speaking, he hasn’t had a moment of happiness during these few days. Since he was unhappy not matter what, he decided that he deserved a treat. So he came here.

At this moment, embraced by the familiar scent with a warm hand stroking his body from time to time, only now was he finally comfortable.

Only, he didn’t notice that this animal’s body was more honest than his thoughts. While he felt that he was still in a bad mood, his body instinctively and accurately responded to this person’s intimacy.

Zhou Li kneaded his fur twice more before he finally came back to his senses. With a silent self-reprimand on how he couldn’t destroy the feelings between the young lovers, he picked up Uncle Dog and placed him back onto Song Yingshi’s lap, saying, “Okay, I’ve hugged him. “

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li took two backward steps to sit back in his original seat. When he looked up, he saw Uncle Dog running over and climbing onto his lap again. 

This time around, the young master didn’t lie down, but sat on his knees and stared directly at him with cold eyes and a “I dare you to try put me back again” expression.

Zhou Li: “……”

Master, just exactly what do you want to do?

Ji Shaoyan and this silly fool had a stare-down for a few seconds. Once he was sure this guy wouldn’t throw himself off again, he allowed himself to lie down.

Song Yingshi saw the pitiful scene this husky made, and helped it out from the side. “It likes you, so hug it more ma.”

In the end, Zhou Li could only hug the dog and ruffle his fur, all the while growing increasingly confused. Seeing the other shut his eyes and appearing to be enjoying this treatment, he wondered if it was because Song Yingshi’s method of stroking his fur was wrong, so maybe that’s why this young master was unsatisfied? Was this just treating him as a masseur?

Believing that he had found a reliable reason, he temporarily suppressed his doubts, and returned to business. “I checked things out. They were put up by Er Ye’s people.”

Song Yingshi was someone who grew up in the urban area but she was still from Xiangman Town. She had heard of the title ‘Second Master’ but didn’t know much about him, and asked, “He seems to be the underworld’s boss?”

Zhou Li confirmed with an “en” and briefly introduced the second master, then explained his simple process for digging up the information.

Song Yingshi: “……”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Andrology ads. There really was a hole in his brain.

Zhou Li was unaware that the person and dog sitting in front of him were both slandering himself, and continued, “I got them to stay on guard for a couple of days and someone finally showed up today. It was someone under Lin Ye, and since Lin Ye is Er Ye’s right hand, these flyers were probably the work of Er Ye.” 

He looked at Song Yingshi. “Understand? For a big boss like the second master to deal with such trivial things, it must be under the orders of Happy’s owner. His owner really isn’t some normal person.”

Song Yingshi looked solemn.

He was right. If the owner was able to command the second master, they should also be able to command the media. She recently searched around online for any missing-dog topics and only saw a few Weibo accounts posting about Happy’s missing status, with no big verified accounts forwarding any posts, so that meant whoever the owner was didn’t ask for any help from the media——perhaps that owner really might not want too much many people pay attention to Happy.

To be honest, she originally thought that this was all from Zhou Li’s whimsical imagination, but the signs were increasingly leading to that hard-to-swallow theory.

She looked at the husky lying on Zhou Li’s lap and imagined it being captured for experimentation. Feeling her heart being squeezed tightly, she asked, “Then what do we do now?”

Ji Shaoyan was also thinking about what they should do.

There was no contact with the media because his stupid little brother was afraid of his grandfather getting suspicious, so he did not dare to draw a big commotion towards this search. Besides, his family wouldn’t let him kick up a fuss over one dog in the first place.

However, he deviated from his path and employed the use of the pet competition. This was no longer something his abysmal IQ level could think of. Looking for help from the local mafia boss, this was not a solution his mind can even come up with.

So…who was acting as his advisor?

Young Master Ji has only felt upset during these days but knew that is was better to follow Song Yingshi than to stay with Silly Fool.

He originally planned to go back to the city with Song Yingshi first to find a chance to contact his grandfather, but now he knew that his dimwit brother had a mastermind of his side, he doesn’t know what will happen to him if he rashly runs back. What if he laid down his cards to this silly fool, and have the boy help him contact his grandpa?

Although this silly fool had more than a few pits in his brain, would he be frightened if he suddenly learned his dog was a human?

What if the shock caused his personality to switch back? In the case where it really did switch, then he might as well follow Song Yingshi.

Ji Shaoyan couldn’t help but take a look at the person in front of him.

Zhou Li noticed his gaze and petted his head reassuringly. He said, “Simple. We just need to make them believe he is not the same dog.”

Song Yingshi said, “How do we do that?” 

Zhou Li squished Uncle Dog’s paws and had a look.

Maybe because he was still a cub, or maybe because he had been held in people’s arms recently, but the husky’s paws still had a light colour to them.

He touched the small black spot and said, “Don’t girls usually have cosmetics like concealers? Rub some on him then take him out for a walk. If you encounter someone who asks about him, just show them the paw. After a few times, people will stop bothering with him.”

Song Yingshi said: “Won’t there be a difference in colour ba?”

Zhou Li also didn’t know whether this method would work and suggested, “Then rub it onto each of his paws and have him step around on the ground. If there’s a layer of dust over the concealer it should be enough to not see the difference.”  

Song Yingshi said, “Okay. I don’t have concealer so I’ll go buy some later.” 

She was a a little hesitant, probably because she still felt the dog being part of an experimental research was too ridiculous of an idea, and couldn’t help saying, “Say, what if Happy’s owner just happened to know both the event organiser and second master? It’s not impossible.”

Zhou Li knew that she was someone who will always think the best about people. In fact, if he didn’t know of the plot himself, he wouldn’t overthink this matter either. After all, with normal people, who would think that inside a husky was a human soul?

He said, “Same as before, you drag things out first while I investigate. Write down the contact information from the missing poster. If this really is just a misunderstanding, we’ll only return him back a few days late at most.”

Song Yingshi didn’t have any objections and urged, “You have to be careful.”

She felt that something was off with her words, because no matter how careful he is, he’s still dealing with the criminal underworld ah. So instead, she asked, “How are you going to investigate?”

Zhou Li said, “I’m going to that pet competition this Sunday, just for a look.”

Song Yingshi felt that she was unable to keep up with his thoughts. “And then?”

Zhou Li said, “See if anyone is just wandering around on the day, then see who they return to in the end. I’ll try to make some conversation if there’s someone like that.”

Song Yingshi admired his plan. “That works too?”

Zhou Li thought to himself, of course not.

These types of events have always been crowded and he didn’t have a pair of trained eagle eyes. The probability of finding someone who is looking for their dog was too low.  

But now that the plot has gone off the rails, it was impossible for Song Yingshi and Ji Shaoyan to attend the pet competition, so he had to physically go to the venue and snatch the game advert from the venue in the next plot over.

He replied, “I’ll try my best” and returned Uncle Dog to Song Yingshi. Demonstrating his perfected craftsmanship, he said, “From top to bottom, he only likes it if you pet him like this.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li stroked the husky twice then stood up and said goodbye.

Ji Shaoyan thought about it for a second and finally decided to try reveal who he was to Zhou Li, so he broke away from Song Yingshi and chased after him.

Song Yingshi saw that Zhou Li was about to open the door. Scared that Happy could be seen by people passing by, she rushed over to pick him up. Ji Shaoyan was unable to break away this time and ignored everything else to call out to Zhou Li. 

Zhou Li: “……”

He turned his head slightly, thinking that something must be wrong with Young Master Ji today.

Seeing him look over, Ji Shaoyan cried out again, all the whilst staring into his eyes.

Zhou Li almost got a nosebleed from the incredibly meng and milky voice and was just barely able to restrain his face. Thinking that Uncle Dog may be in some kind of trouble, he turned around and took a step in his direction. Then, his phone rang. He stopped to take it out and saw that it was one of his little brothers. He answered, “Wei?” 

“Ying-ge.” Lao San’s was surprisingly tight. “Master Lin…is looking for you.”

Zhou Li paused. “Master Lin?”

There were some sounds of shuffling on the other end and Lin Ye’s voice came through the speakers. He directly took Lao San’s phone and hijacked the call. “I happened to be in the area today. Come out, I need you for something.”

Zhou Li listened to the man’s smiling tone and guessed their group have not yet been exposed for tearing down the posters. After all, he used a new number, and had immediately flushed it down the toilet after that one use. As long as his little brothers can keep secrets to themselves, it was unlikely for Lin Ye to pin the crime on him.

He smiled and said, “Sure, where are you?”

Lin Ye said, “At the entrance by that little supermarket we met last time. I’ll take you to go fishing.”

Zhou Li said, “Don’t wanna, why do you want to fish on such a hot day. Let’s drink cola ba.”

Lin Ye chuckled and replied, “Okay. Come quickly.”

He hung up after issuing the order. Zhou Li could hear how busy the man was just by his tone and knew he couldn’t worry about Young Master Ji at this time, so he stepped forward and lightly rubbed the dog head, gesturing for the other to be more obedient, then left with one swing of the door.

Leaving the neighbourhood and turning the corner to a street, he saw in the distance Lin Ye leaning against the car for a smoke. Lao San stood at the side like a wax statue, not daring to breathe. It was unknown what ideas he had come up with to fill in the gaps of his limited knowledge when it came to his Ying-ge and Master Lin.

He quickly walked forward.

Lin Ye noticed his approach and looked over at his noble appearance*. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Who beat you?”

[T/N: 尊容: describes one’s honourable and glorious appearance (for Buddha statues and the gods), usually used ironically when describing humans]

Zhou Li said, “My dad.”

Lin Ye said, “Even if you’re causing trouble, he shouldn’t be hitting you this hard ba?”

Zhou Li sighed, “It’s hard to explain. “

He came to a stop in front of the man, wanting to hear the excuse this big boss thought of to lure him here. Instead, this big boss just gestured at the front passenger seat, motioning for him to get in the car. He stood his ground and asked, “Where are we going?”

Lin Ye said, “Come fishing with me.”

He felt that this guy didn’t take to heart what he previously said at all.

Zhou Li forcibly pulled the corners of his mouth upwards and refused. “It’s so hot…”

Lin Ye interrupted, “There are outdoor umbrellas so the sun won’t touch you, and I’ll invite you to eat grilled fish once we’ve finished. Also, I have a small favour I need you to do for me. If you come, I’ll wipe off your 10,000 yuan debt by 3,000.” 

He was indifferent to things like grilled fish and debts, but “do me a favour” made Zhou Li’s heart jump and his mouth suddenly ate back their words. “Then, I’ll need to drink two icy bottles of cola.”

Lin Ye let out another laugh, feeling that this kid was truly pleasing to the eye, and happily said, “Sure, you can drink whatever you want when we get there.” 

The car drove away and quickly disappeared around the corner.

Lao San’s face turned pale.

Generally, for these kinds of dark forces to kill a person, they will have to drag the target to a secluded place first. Will Ying-ge be able to return?

He trembled and turned on his phone, typing into the group chat: Fuck, Ying-ge might get lynched!* 

[T/N: 沉塘: ancient punishment, the victim is stuffed in a sack with a big stone, then chucked into a body of water, I used lynched cause sacked didn’t flow well]

Er-ge: ???

Xiao Wu: ???

Xiao Liu: Huh???

Lao San sent out a voice message and explained the situation in a few words while choking. “I regret it, why did I go downstairs to buy smokes, if it weren’t for the cigarettes, I wouldn’t have run into Master Lin, just…”

Without waiting for his brothers to get the chance to persuade him otherwise, he realised something important by himself.

Logically, as the person who witnessed Ying-ge’s abduction, he shouldn’t be living for any longer either ah!

Just then, he was too terrified and wasn’t able to think about many, if any, things. Only now did he realise Master Lin never asked anything about missing dogs, so he added, “Actually, I think it’ll be fine. Maybe my mind just wanted to exaggerate things.” 

The people in the group lined up to send out bubbles of ellipsis. Only Xiao Wu went insane: Did he and Master Lin go fishing?!

Lao San: Yeah ah, what’s wrong?

Er-ge: Don’t just casually think about this. Stay calm. Master Lin said he went to ask Ying-ge for help, I’m guessing it’s for the dog hunt.

Fa Cai 7: Er-ge is right, keep calm, we can’t scare ourselves!

It was hard for Xiao Wu to say that Master Lin fancied Ying-ge. He could only sit in the house, alone and useless.

Zhou Li, who was the source of their anxiety, happened to see the group chat at this time

He simply replied with a few words, and after a private chat with Xiao Wu to try appease him, he went along with Lin Ye and arrived at an agritourism spot*.

[T/N: 农家乐, imagine a farm/resort mix, with lakes around it]

This place had ponds and vegetable gardens, appearing to take up a large plot of land.

He originally thought that Lin Ye had some unimportant business meeting and wanted to keep someone at his side to relieve his boredom, but when he walked over to the pond for a look, he saw that only the two of them were the only people around in such a large space and realised that Lin Ye really did just want him to come fishing with him.

So he sat beside the man on the pier all the way until noon and gave the fish he caught to the owners, then followed Lin Ye into the private room and waited for the grilled fish to be served.

After looking into Xiao Wu’s family situation, this big boss still went out his way to lay down a trap, explaining that he paid close attention to “mutual consent”*. Because this act of his was inconsistent with his usual style, Zhou Li was calm and collected all morning.

[T/N: he ‘carefully selected someone who was willing’, which is obviously not the case. He is also describing these situations solely around the monetary debt (since he thinks ZL doesn’t know he wants to do him), though this is also not the case]

However, the more Lin Ye watched this boy, the more strange he found him.

Not to mention a child of his age, even Qian Duoshu would show some fear in front of him. But this kid was able to stay composed, creating a comfortable sight when people looked at him.

He asked, “Following me out here so assuredly, aren’t you afraid that I’ll do something to you?”

Zhou Li answered very honestly, “If a big man like you* wants to do something to me, it’s useless for me to be afraid ah.”

[T/N: ZL uses honourable form of you for Master Lin, as always]

Lin Ye roared with laughter and happily stroked the boy’s hair.

Zhou Li said, “Didn’t you say you need my help for something? What is it?”

Lin Ye pulled up the photo album on his phone and handed it over. “Look.”

Zhou Li looked at the missing-dog poster and asked, “Your dog?”

Lin Ye said, “No, I’m helping someone find it.”

Zhou Li pretended to be surprised. “To ask you to help, they can’t be an ordinary person bei?”

Lin Ye smiled. “You are quite clever.”

Zhou Li raised his eyebrows. “Did I guess right? They’re not just some normal person?”

Lin Ye said, “En, a rich second-generation* from the city.”

[T/N: 富二代/fu er dai: child of entrepreneurs who became wealthy in the 80’s in China]

Zhou Li grabbed the opportunity to leak a little bit of curiosity into his voice. “An ordinary rich second-generation shouldn’t have the means to find you ba, what’s their background?”

“Why are you asking so many questions, you wouldn’t know them even if I answer,” Lin Ye jokingly reprimanded. “Anyway, carefully read the information on this and help me keep an eye out.”

Zhou Li obediently responded, thinking to himself that it really might be Second Young Master Ji. 

But in the original text, the Second Young Master Ji never pulled something like this. Could it be that someone put the idea in his head?

He considered this for a few seconds, and immediately planned to seek out more answers. “I don’t understand, can’t you just buy another dog with that much money? Why are they going around this in such a troublesome way?”

Lin Ye said, “Because this dog belongs to that person’s little girlfriend. She raised it and developed feelings, so it must be this one.”  

The words in his mouth flowed out naturally, “Do you know what ‘feelings’ are?”*

[T/N: he’s saying this as if talking to a (younger) child, since the feelings they are referring to is affection]

Zhou Li said, “Don’t know.”

Lin Ye said, “Oh, you don’t talk about these with your friends at school?”

Zhou Li instantly became serious. “Naturally, students must focus on their studies. Schools do not allow us to be in premature relationships.”

Lin Ye, who had been exposed as a slacker in school, was charmed by this boy and his comments once again. Seeing the other push his phone back, he took the opportunity to add the other’s WeChat. Before clicking off the photo album, he saw the picture of the husky and recalled something, asking, “Last time I met you, weren’t you holding something in your arms?”

Zhou Li said, “En, a husky, probably around the same size as this one.”

Lin Ye questioned, “Yours?”

“Classmate’s. I raised him for a few days, but it’s been a while since I’ve returned him.” Zhou Li said, “I didn’t pay attention to his paws. When I have some free time, I’ll get my classmate to bring him out for you to look.”

Lin Ye was very satisfied and changed the subject. “How much money have you collected?”

Zhou Li: “Not too much.”

Lin Ye: “How much is ‘not too much’?”

Zhou Li said, “Around 200 ba.“*

[T/N: ~30USD, while the 10,000 yuan debt is ~1,500USD]

Lin Ye suddenly burst out in laughter. He felt that this kid was way too entertaining.

He actually didn’t need help from this kid, but he heard earlier today that all the missing posters had been torn down, so he came around for a look. He just happened to have finished with digging into the Qian family’s situation and knew that it was okay for him to play around, so he wanted to find an excuse to pull the kid out to go fishing. Now, he feels that his decision has never been so wise. This kid was the most pleasing one he has picked out out of every other one in these past few years.

He smiled and asked, “Should I wipe some more off for you?”

Zhou Li glanced at him, slightly suspicious. He did not believe that this guy can be so kind.

Lin Ye subconsciously wanted to clarify, but after thinking about it, he was afraid of scaring the other.

With this kid’s family situation, he didn’t need to fear any consequences. It wasn’t as if there were any issues with him reducing the debt so they can get along more harmoniously.

[T/N: LY is obviously making this option sound less horrible than it is. Since he knows it is impossible for ZL to pay off the debt in time, he’s thinking about letting ZL off the debt if they become more intimate]

Zhou Li saw him hesitate and was afraid the man will put the second option out in the open, so he said, “Even if you wipe it off, we still may not be able to pay it off. If I can find this dog, won’t I be able to get 20,000 yuan?”

Lin Ye smiled. “Okay, I’ll wait.”

He couldn’t hold back the urge to pinch the other person’s face. “But don’t even think about going back on your words. I know where you live. The monk can run away but the temple won’t run with him*.”

[T/N: you can run away but you’ll have to come back/I’ll get you sooner or later]

Zhou Li was under no pressure at all. “Don’t worry ba, Master Lin. Of all people, I can’t back out of my debt with you.” 

After the two of them amicably shared a meal of grilled fish, Zhou Li was taken to a few other places to play around, and they dawdled outside until he was sent home in the evening.

He notified the group chat of his safety and chatted with Song Yingshi about Lin Ye’s matters, then bought some ingredients to make a simple stir fry. While cooking, he saw Qian Duoshu come back.

Qian Duoshu looked at his face and tentatively asked, “You’re still going to work tomorrow?”

Zhou Li said, “En.”

He noticed that the other seemed to want to say something but was too hesitant to open up, and added, “My colleague has concealer, it’ll cover up anything too bad.”

Qian Duoshu opened his mouth repeatedly. “Oh, that…that’s good. If your boss nit-picks you, just leave. It’s not like we have no money in the house.” 

Zhou Li said, “I know.”

Qian Duoshu stalled a little, then said, “I had a look, the hospital happens to have a specialist in on Monday and the next time is Friday. What day do you want to go?”

Zhou Li said, “Monday ba.”

The earlier it’s treated, the earlier he can be worry-free.

Qian Duoshu had no objections and after they ate their meal, he cut up a watermelon and gave him some pieces of fruit.

Zhou Li picked up a piece and bit down, beginning to wonder about Ji Shaoyan’s abnormality earlier in the day. After thinking about it, he felt that Ji Shaoyan might have wanted to lay all his secrets in the open, because if he were in the other’s shoes*, there was a high chance he would’ve done the same in his situation. 

[T/N: because he was empathetic]

But here laid a big problem.

The author probably thought that something like ‘brainwave refraction’ was too ridiculous of a concept. Not only did they label the experiment with “under research” they also specifically explained that there was only a 5% success rate. One mishap and you’ll damage your brain, living the rest of your life as an idiot or simply turning into a vegetable person. Second Young Master Ji wanted his brother to become an idiot, so he made Ji Shaoyan the experimental subject without any worries.

Last time, the author wanted to turn the male protagonist into a dog and succeeded only after activating their golden finger*.

[T/N: use cheats, like a protagonist halo]

This time, if Ji Shaoyan laid all his card on the table with him and he helped to contact Grandpa Ji to send the husky home, Grandpa Ji will then get his hands on the experimental equipment and…turn Ji Shaoyan into an idiot?

What’s more, once he returns home, Ji Shaoyan will definitely receive the most appropriate and high-quality care, and it was unlikely he’ll get the chance to be seriously injured and die. Even if he suggested that they try beating the husky for a round or two, they will find the idea unbearable.

However, if he stuck with his plan to get the young master back into his body, he only needed to wait one more week before Ji Shaoyan follows Song Yingshi back to the city, facing her vicious stepmother and the sibling* accomplices, he can return in a matter of minutes.

[T/N: phoenix twins, twins that are one boy, one girl]

He just didn’t know if Ji Shaoyan can wait. What if he breaks free when Song Yingshi is walking him and runs all the way over to scratch on his door? What should he do then?

Zhou Li thought for a while but still couldn’t choose which path to take.

However, Song Yingshi will have to work both tomorrow and the day after that. When she gets off work, Qian Duoshu would have been at home since hours ago, even if he worked overtime on Saturday and Sunday. With Qian Duoshu around, Ji Shaoyan will not have the chance to reveal who he is, so at the earliest, Ji Shaoyan can only come to their door on Monday. But on Monday, he and Qian Duoshu were going to see a doctor… Thinking about it this way, he still had several days to consider.

He immediately stopped worrying himself over this matter to relax and rest for the night. The next day, he waited at the bus stop for Song Yingshi.

Song Yingshi took out some cosmetics from her bag and looked at his face, reminding him, “I haven’t tried these out myself and this is the first time I’m applying makeup on someone else, so I can’t guarantee what the outcome will be.”

Zhou Li said, “It’s okay. Even if you’re just painting it on, you can use me as practise.”

Song Yingshi carefully smeared a layer on him.

The bruise at the edge of his mouth was about to disappear and only the discoloured patch by the corner of his eye was left. After she finished applying a layer, she followed the online tutorial and dusted on some powder. Glancing at the end product, she laughed, “No way, this is too white. Remove it, I’ll reapply it for you ba.”

Zhou Li looked at himself through a small mirror and saw the bus approaching, and calmly reassured, “Forget it, just leave it like this.”

He got into the bus and found them seats, then whispered, “You didn’t forget to tell your grandma to not walk the dog ba?”

Song Yingshi said, “I told her, I even applied concealer on its paws just in case.”

Zhou Li was finally at ease and they soon arrived at the mall. 

Tao Shanshan was currently playing around on her phone. When she saw them walk over, her face collapsed and her arm reached out to hang around Song Yingshi’s shoulders. Her entire body seemed to drape around Song Yingshi.

Song Yingshi found her appearance funny. “What’s wrong with you?”

Tao Shanshan said, “Did you not read the news in the group chat? There’s a study god get together tomorrow. Say, do you think Ji-shao will be there? I really want to go ah!”

Song Yingshi said helplessly, “You can ask for leave.”

Tao Shanshan wailed, “Don’t forget, I already told my auntie that I’m going on vacation next week. If I ask for leave this week, more specifically, if I ask for leave during this busy-as-hell period, she’s gonna skin me alive ah!”

Zhou Li listened in from the side, thinking about the plot.

In the original text, today was the day Song Yingshi learned about the pet competition from her circle of friends, and she had wanted to attend.

Tao Shanshan found out that the event was hosted next door to the Study God Get Together, so she asked Song Yingshi to take a day off for her husky and the competition, and when the other agreed, persuaded her to help take pictures of Young Master Ji for herself. Song Yingshi naturally refused to take the photos, but it was precisely because her friend mentioned the little get together, she curiously went over to take a look, and left with the advert for the game. 

Seeing that they still wanted to talk some more, he headed off to the changing rooms first.

When he came out, he happened to run into Qin-jie. The other took one look at his face and immediately began to laugh. “Why are you wearing makeup today?”

Zhou Li told her the tale of a boy who got beaten and taking advantage of her heartache, asked for leave for tomorrow.

Qin-jie liked him very much and happily agreed to his request. Zhou Li went to work for the day as usual and got up early the next day, taking a ride straight to the city.

It took nearly two hours to travel to the city by bus from Xiangman Town. By the time he arrived, the study god get together had already started.

He didn’t apply any concealer today. His noble looking face was too out of place in the world of study tyrants and the eyes that stared at him were neverending. He calmly ignored them and wandered in, immediately walking into Su Ya.

Su Ya evidently asked for leave today and was surprised to see him. “Why are you here?”

Zhou Li smiled with creased eyes, saying, “There’s a pet competition nearby so I came here to play with the animals. I heard that there was a study tyrant meet up here so wanted to absorb some knowledge from these intellectuals, see if there’s a learning method that will suit me.”

The corner’s of Su Ya’s mouth twitched. “Oh“.

Zhou Li said, “You?”

Su Ya said, “My classmates and I are here for the event.”

As she said this, two flowery young girls came to stand next to her. These should be the the classmates. The two curiously looked at Zhou Li and asked Su Ya, “Your friend?”

Su Ya simply said, “Acquaintance.”

Once she made clear their relationship, she nodded to Zhou Li and left with her classmates.

Zhou Li wasn’t too interested in chatting with her either and turned around to seek out the flyer giver. At this time, he heard Su Ya’s classmate say, “Ji-shao should be coming ba, I saw his little brother a little while ago.”

He suddenly came to a stop and heard another person say, “Where was he?”

“Just next door, they’re hosting a pet competition there. I passed by just before and saw him getting out the car.”

“Er-shao* likes pets?”

[T/N: second young master]

“Who knows…”

Zhou Li watched as they slowly walked away and when he was handed the flyer, he immediately ran over to the pet competition next door and started to focus on every boy who appeared to be of the same age as him, then compared each one with Ji Shaoyan’s face. He needed to find Second Young Master Ji and see who was around him.

He never expected that after walking around half the venue, his wrist was suddenly grabbed from behind. He turned his head and saw Lin Ye’s smiling face.

Lin Ye said, “It’s really you, what did you run into the city for?”

Zhou Li’s eyes lit up and he knowingly answered, “To play. Why are you here?”

Lin Ye: “I have some business here. Who did you come with?”

Zhou Li: “I’m here by myself.”

Lin Ye smiled. “Then I’ll send you back later.”

Zhou Li refused in the polite way of going about things, but meeting the other’s insistence, he ended up agreeing to the ride.

He originally wanted to follow the man step by step, but Lin Ye told him he was free to go off and play by himself, so he could only observe it secretly. Very quickly, he saw Lin Ye walking up to stand in front of a teenager.

He watched as they ended their conversation and secretly followed the teenager. Waiting until the other person sat down at the seats in the auditorium, he then snuck a photo of that area, thinking that if Ji Shaoyan really decided to reveal himself, he would take the photo out and let Ji Shaoyan take a look to see if he could recognise the mastermind who gave Second Young Master Ji the advice. Know the enemy, know yourself, and you will emerge victorious in every battle.

He slipped away his phone and felt that he really went above and beyond in completing his tasks today, so he wandered around the event, looking at all kinds of dogs and cats. But, he found that no matter what angle he observed them, none of the animals were as cute as his Eggy, so he simply found a resting place to sip on a drink, occasionally replying to Lin Ye’s WeChat messages. Before he knew it, he had spent his entire morning at this venue.

Lin Ye followed the directions he had sent and found the boy waiting for him obediently. He was very satisfied. With a big smile, he said, “Come, I’ll take you out for dinner. I’ll send you back after eating.”

Zhou Li: “Aren’t there still events in the afternoon?”

Lin Ye: “Yes bei, but I’m done with my business.”

Only then did Zhou Li remember that all the dog-centred events were tightly condensed in the morning, so he stopped asking. After their meal, he climbed into the man’s car and heard the other ask why he came all the way to the city by himself just to play around. He said, “Because I like dogs.”

Lin Ye: “What breed of dog?”

Zhou Li opened his mouth so say nonsense, “I like all breeds.”

Lin Ye smiled. “Very good. “

Zhou Li: “En, doggies are the cutest.”

The consequences of his loose mouth came soon after.

He went home and took an afternoon nap, then had dinner with Qian Duoshu. As he was just about to text Song Yingshi to hand over the flyer, he first received a call from Lin Ye, who told him to go downstairs.

He walked downstairs and saw Master Lin holding a little golden retriever by its leash.

Zhou Li: “……”

Please don’t tell me that what I think is happening, is happening.

Lin Ye smiled and handed him the dog leash. “I’m going to be busy around this time, help me raise it for a few days.”

Zhou Li opened his mouth. “…Why me?”

“Among all the people I know, only you have the experience of raising a dog,” Lin Ye said, “What are you in a daze for? Grab this ah.”

Maybe it was because Zhou Li shone like the sun, or maybe it was the slight hostility that came off Lin Ye’s body, but as soon as the docile little golden retriever saw Zhou Li, it came bounding over to him.

Zhou Li glanced at it and silently took the dog leash.

Master Lin’s smile suddenly deepened.

He didn’t actually take this kid too much to heart before, but their increasing meetings recently made his heart feel itchy. Thus, he came up with the idea of sending over a dog for the other to raise, so that he could call the boy outside from time to time with the excuse of checking up on the dog.

He said, “It had to stay in the car for the whole ride, you should take it around for a walk.”

Zhou Li could naturally guess what scheme this guy was aiming at.

But right now, he was living through a disastrous period*. He still wanted to say a few more words to the other, so he accepted the other’s good advice and nodded, taking the new and little golden retriever by the leash to go on a walk. 

[T/N:非常时期 /experiencing internal strife, external disasters, unstable social order, and in a very tense situation. He’s most likely exaggerating here]

Lin Ye slipped his hands in his pockets and followed him slowly for a while, then asked, “Where are we going?”

Zhou Li said, “There’s a leisure square in the complex next door.” 

As he said this, he raised his head and and saw a person and a dog walking along the fork in the road up ahead. They looked very familiar.

Ji Shaoyan had reluctantly allowed a dog leash to be put around his neck. While he was walking, he was simultaneously thinking about how to reach out to Silly Fool. Unexpectedly, they were able to meet on the road. He paused in his steps and looked at Silly Fool, then at the little golden retriever he was holding, then at Silly Fool again. His eyes remained fixed on his body. It did not move.

Zhou Li: “……”

Ah… It’s over.

The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: This thing’s quite capable ah, taking in a new dog so quickly.

Zhou Li: I’m not, I didn’t, stop speaking nonsense!