☆, Chapter 24: Missing
The interview was over. Hao Ren didn’t rush back to Xiaoshan Villa, but stayed here with Hao Yi for another day. The next day was Sunday, and she and Hao Yi had arranged to go buy a mobile phone.
Yesterday, the handsome anchor had asked Hao Ren for her phone number. When he learned that Hao Ren didn’t even have a mobile phone, his expression was very surprised. Hao Weiguo probably felt that this made him lose face, so that night he instructed Hao Yi to accompany her to buy a mobile phone the next day.
Hao Yi had developed the good habit of going to bed early and waking up early at Xiaoshan Villa. He got up early the next day and even used the cooking skills he had honed at Xiaoshan Villa to make breakfast for the whole family. Hao Ren would be scolded for making breakfast, but the breakfast Hao Yi made received a completely different treatment. Not only did it receive unanimous praise from the whole family, but Mr. and Mrs. Hao even showed expressions of great satisfaction.
After breakfast, while Mr. and Mrs. Hao were not paying attention, Hao Yi stuffed a white object into Hao Ren’s hand.
“This is…” After seeing clearly what it was, Hao Ren’s body trembled, and she felt a layer of goosebumps rise all over her skin. It was a tail! The tail of Ah Hua’s youngest child! The tail that had been taken as a trophy by the culprit! Hao Ren remembered that this tail had been made into a pendant by the culprit and hung on his backpack. How did it end up here?
“When I just got up, a very majestic German Shepherd brought this over. It was sitting in the garden with this thing in its mouth. I thought it was probably waiting for you, so I greeted it. I didn’t expect that as soon as it saw me, it dropped the thing and ran away as if it were flying.” Hao Yi’s expression was slightly awkward as he spoke, as if he felt sorry for accidentally scaring away Hao Ren’s friend.
So it was that German Shepherd! Hao Ren instantly understood. In fact, she had considered whether to find a way to get that tail back before, but then she thought that even if she got it back, it would only add to Ah Hua’s sadness, so she had given up the idea. She never expected that the tail would be brought back in the end. Since this was the German Shepherd’s kind intention, Hao Ren couldn’t, in good conscience, dispose of the tail herself. She could only bite the bullet and give it to Ah Hua.
Although Ah Hua had already accepted reality, she still hadn’t recovered from the previous blow. When Hao Ren returned to the room with the tail, she was still lying by the window, staring blankly outside. Perhaps she smelled a familiar scent. As soon as Hao Ren entered the room, she suddenly turned her head. When her gaze fell on the tail in Hao Ren’s hand, she was instantly frozen on the spot as if struck by lightning.
She didn’t cry out, let alone pounce. She just sat there, staring at the tail in Hao Ren’s hand.
The child who had brutally killed the four little puppies really had the potential of a serial killer. He had even preserved the tail, so although the weather was hot now, the small white tail was very well preserved. It lay quietly in Hao Ren’s hand, as if it would start wagging excitedly at any moment, just like when it was alive.
“Do you want it? To keep it, or to bury it with the children?” Hao Ren took a deep breath and finally managed to speak to the devastated Ah Hua with great difficulty.
At the word “bury,” Ah Hua’s body trembled. She quickly stood up, walked to Hao Ren’s feet, and let out a whimper.
Hao Ren stroked its head and placed the small tail by its feet.
Ah Hua’s reaction was much calmer than Hao Ren had imagined. She didn’t cry or scream, just closed her eyes and pressed her face against the small tail, silently shedding tears. Hao Ren didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt that after getting that small tail, although Ah Hua’s eyes were still desolate, they seemed to have become much gentler, and there was a bit more spirit in them that hadn’t been there before.
Understanding Ah Hua’s choice, Hao Ren found a chain, strung the tail on it, and hung it around Ah Hua’s neck like a necklace.
Worried about Ah Hua’s emotions, Hao Ren, as usual, had Daizi and Lucky stay behind to accompany her when she went out.
Buying a mobile phone was much simpler than buying clothes. The two of them went directly into the nearest digital mall, randomly chose a counter, and directly picked the latest model of a smartphone. Today’s task was considered complete.
After buying the phone, with nothing else to do, Hao Ren wandered aimlessly on the street for a couple of rounds, greeting the stray dogs and cats on the roadside. There were many restaurants on the few streets near the digital mall, so it had become the most densely populated area for stray dogs and cats. Fortunately, the nearby businesses were relatively friendly to cats and dogs. Although the density of cats and dogs here was high, the relationship with humans was still quite harmonious.
Where there are advantages, there are naturally disadvantages. It was easy for stray cats and dogs to survive here, so irresponsible cat and dog owners often abandoned their pets here. Today, Hao Ren unfortunately witnessed such a tragedy.
Originally, she hadn’t noticed the little white dog lying next to the bus stop sign, thinking it was just an ordinary stray dog, until she heard the discussion of other cats and dogs.
“Fool! That fool is still waiting…”
“Still saying its owner will come back to pick it up. It’s so stupid. Doesn’t it understand by now that it’s been abandoned?”
“It’s been almost a month. It’s strange if the owner comes back!”
“Still has illusions about humans even at this point. It deserves to starve to death!”
“Idiot! Fool! It’s an eyesore!”
…
Many of the cats and dogs here had been abandoned by their owners, so Hao Ren could understand their unanimous criticism. Their attitude towards the little white dog was probably one of pity for its misfortune and anger at its lack of fight. In their view, accepting reality sooner was the only way to live a better life.
Those cats and dogs didn’t shy away from their discussion when the little white dog lying next to the bus stop sign was there. The little white dog had been staring intently in the direction the bus was coming from. Whenever it heard the discussion, it would droop its ears and stare at its two front paws with a dejected expression, as if it were really doing something heinous.
Looking at the little white dog, which was as dirty as a stained snowball, and at its dejected but still determined back, Hao Ren felt her heart tighten, and she couldn’t help but walk over and stroke its head.
“Master!” Feeling Hao Ren’s touch, the little white dog, which had been lying there listlessly, instantly jumped up and looked at Hao Ren with an expectant face.
After seeing Hao Ren’s face clearly, the excitement on its face instantly faded, and it returned to its previous listless appearance.
“Your Majesty…” It bowed its head to Hao Ren and then lay back down in its original position.
“Stop waiting, your owner isn’t coming back…” Having heard the discussion of the cats and dogs and seen its dirty white fur, Hao Ren of course understood that its waiting was meaningless. Just as everyone had said, if its owner were to come back, they would have come back long ago.
Hearing Hao Ren’s words, the little white dog didn’t lower its head and turn a deaf ear as it had when facing the accusations of the cats and dogs. Instead, it trembled violently as if struck by lightning.
“My owner said she would come back to pick me up, she said so…” The little white dog raised its head and looked at Hao Ren with teary eyes, arguing vehemently as if its soft spot had been poked. Hearing its voice, it was a young boy, probably about the same age as Lucky.
“Do you really think your owner will come back to pick you up?” From its performance just now, it was clear that even it itself no longer quite believed that its owner would come back.
“She will! She will definitely come back! My owner promised me…” Although it still said this, its tone was no longer as firm as before.
“Why don’t you come with me!” Hao Ren stroked its head. She didn’t know which heartless bastard had done it, but there was a huge stain on the little white dog’s back that looked like dried black rice porridge, and that patch of fur had become matted because of it. Looking at the color of the fur in other places, the stained area must have been much larger originally, but it had ended up like that because it couldn’t lick the spot on its back. Looking at that stain, Hao Ren had the urge to take the little white dog home right now and scrub it with soap three hundred times.
Unfortunately, the little white dog did not intend to let her have her way. It shook its head and mercilessly refused, “If I go with you, my owner will be anxious if she comes back and can’t find me…”
Hearing this, Hao Ren suddenly felt her nose tingle. No wonder the other cats and dogs called it an idiot and a fool. They were not wrong. Even at this point, this silly dog was still foolishly believing in its owner.
“Then what are you going to do?” Hao Ren sighed. She didn’t know what to do with this stubborn dog.
The little white dog, as before, drooped its ears and looked at its paws.
“You can’t go on like this! You’ll starve to death before your owner comes back to pick you up!” Hao Ren endured the disgust and stroked its dirty back. Because of its thick fur, it wasn’t obvious, but it was already skin and bones. It must not have eaten properly during the time it was waiting.
“How about this? I’ll take you to meet some friends, let them teach you how to survive first, and then you can come back and wait.”
“What if my owner comes to look for me while I’m gone?”
Hao Ren almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
“Hao Yi, take it back!” When soft tactics didn’t work, she went straight to the hard ones. Hao Ren directly waved for her little brother to take action.
The little white dog was too dirty. Hao Yi frowned, then went to a nearby 24-hour convenience store to buy an environmentally friendly bag, grabbed it, and threw it directly into the bag.
“Help! Help!” The little white dog was so scared it started yelping.
“Her Majesty is mighty!”
“Long live!”
“Your Majesty, remember to splash some cold water on it to wake it up when you get back!”
…
Faced with the siblings’ act of kidnapping on the street, the cats and dogs here were overjoyed, looking as if they were about to pounce and help. It was clear how long they had been tolerating this stubborn one.
Although it was yelping at first, after walking for a while, the little white dog quieted down. After being thrown into the bathtub, washed, and blow-dried, it even obediently finished the dog food Hao Yi had prepared for it.
“You can stay with us. We will be good to you.”
The little white dog lowered its head and didn’t answer.
“Still want to go back and wait for your owner?”
It nodded weakly.
Hao Ren let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky, speechless.
Hao Ren had to coax and pester for a long time before the stubborn dog finally agreed to her previous suggestion of finding it some little friends.
The park was not far from that commercial street. Hao Ren decided to entrust the little white dog to the German Shepherd and the others. She always felt that only that German Shepherd could save such a stubborn one.
Leading the little white dog to the park and telling the German Shepherd and the others about its experience, the German Shepherd immediately said it was willing to accept this unlucky little friend. Only a few of the small animals in the park were wild; most were stray cats and dogs that had been abandoned by their owners, just like the little white dog, so they empathized with its experience. Hao Ren had been worried that they would not accept it, but seeing everyone surround the little white dog and ask it questions, she let out a sigh of relief.
With the little friends in the park looking after it, even if it still stubbornly insisted on waiting for its owner, it wouldn’t starve to death.
“I’ll leave it to you all.” Hao Ren patted the German Shepherd’s sturdy back. For some reason, she always felt that this German Shepherd was particularly trustworthy.
“Rest assured, Your Majesty.”
“Wooo wooo… I miss my owner so much…” Faced with the comforting words of its new little friends, the little white dog finally couldn’t hold back and started to cry.
“Wooo wooo… we miss our mom so much…”
“Mom… wooo wooo…”
“Mom, we miss you so much…”
Just as Hao Ren was about to go over and comfort the little white dog, three even more tender but more shrill cries sounded in the air. She turned her head and saw that it was the three little leopard cats she had released here before.
At this moment, the three little leopard cats were staring intently at a mother cat leading three half-grown kittens, their eyes filled with an indescribable envy and jealousy.