☆, Chapter 29: Falling into the Water
When Hao Ren returned home, Hao Yi hadn’t gotten up yet, and Mr. and Mrs. Hao hadn’t even noticed that she hadn’t returned all night. Fearing that Hao Yi would have a sour face when he woke up and bring punishment from Mr. and Mrs. Hao upon her, Hao Ren greeted the small animals, tidied up a bit, and then took the subway back to the Xiaoshan area by herself. As for Daizi, Hao Yi would naturally bring him over later.
After the typhoon, the Xiaoshan villa area was also in a mess. Withered branches, fallen leaves, and uprooted trees were scattered everywhere. The property management was busy cleaning up. It was said that many cars parked in the underground garage had also been flooded. Hao Ren didn’t have a car, and as for the house, the damage was not too serious due to its geographical location. The only loss was a swimming pool full of withered branches and leaves to clean up.
The stray cats and dogs on the mountain were quite loyal. They only respectfully took their leave after Hao Ren returned. Seeing Hao Ren return, the old, weak, sick, and disabled that she had adopted immediately surrounded her excitedly. Lucky jumped directly into her arms. Even Princess was there, staring expectantly behind Hao Ren and asking her why Daizi hadn’t come back with her. After learning that Daizi would come back with Hao Yi, that one immediately left dejectedly.
After a simple breakfast with the cats and dogs, Hao Ren began to clean up the traces left by the typhoon.
Hao Ren couldn’t swim, so the swimming pool was just a giant sink for her, plus a giant pet bathtub suitable for bathing a large group of cats and dogs together. Even if the pet bathtub was dirty, it had to be cleaned. After a rough cleaning of the messy garden, she went to the basement to get a net and began to scoop out the fallen leaves in the swimming pool. At first, she thought it was nice to have a swimming pool for the convenience of bathing the small animals, but now she knew how troublesome it was to clean up.
Because the water was flowing, just as she had cleaned up half of it, a gust of wind blew, and the remaining half spread all over the pool again. She scooped for a long time but found that it seemed to be getting more and more. The most frustrating thing was a white plastic bag that she just couldn’t scoop up, and the length of the net was not enough.
In fact, at this time, she should have waited for it to float closer on its own, or simply waited for Hao Yi to come back and solve it. Unfortunately, Hao Ren’s obsessive-compulsive disorder kicked in, and she wouldn’t be happy until she scooped it up. And so, the result of using too much force was that she slipped and fell headfirst into the swimming pool.
She gulped down several mouthfuls of water. Just as she thought she was done for, she suddenly heard the sound of something splashing into the water. In just a moment, she was pushed to the surface by a group of wet and furry cats and dogs.
Only after climbing ashore did she realize that everyone had jumped into the water to save her, even the cats who were afraid of water. Looking at those concerned eyes, she stretched out her wet hand and patted each wet little head. Being the King of a Hundred Beasts was truly a blessing!
“Your Majesty, are you okay?” The one who asked was Lucky. Because its fur was wet and stuck to its face, its chubby face was completely unrecognizable. Not just Lucky, all the cats and dogs were dripping with water. It was impossible to tell who was who without looking closely.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Don’t you dare—” Seeing their appearance, Hao Ren had a bad premonition. Sure enough, after learning that she was fine, all the cats and dogs began to shake their fur in unison.
Dozens of cats and dogs shaking their fur at the same time, the scene was incomparable to an ordinary water-splashing festival. For a moment, water droplets flew everywhere. Fortunately, Hao Ren was already soaked, so she wasn’t afraid of getting wetter. One had just finished shaking when it was splashed by the water shaken off by the one next to it, so it continued to shake. The one next to it was splashed again, so it continued to shake. The chain reaction was endless.
One of the small mixed-breed dogs was splashed twice in a row by the tall Chinese native dog next to it. In a fit of anger, it jumped back into the water, climbed out with its body full of water, and angrily returned the favor. The long-legged Chinese native dog shook itself again without a change in expression.
“Hahahaha…” Hao Ren was just about to get up and go back to her room to change her clothes when she saw this scene and was amused.
Unfortunately, her smile soon froze on her face, because she saw a soaked Hao Yi in the crowd of cats and dogs.
“What are you all doing?” That guy was standing there with Daizi, his face ashen. He didn’t look much better than Hao Ren. He definitely hadn’t fallen into the water. The only possibility was that he had been soaked by the shaking cats and dogs. To be that wet, he must have been standing there for a long time. Perhaps because he was so easy to get along with, the cats and dogs obviously didn’t treat him as an outsider.
“Hahaha…” Looking at his sorry state, Hao Ren couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“What on earth did you do? You look like you just got fished out of the water.” Hao Yi’s face was still ashen.
Hao Ren quickly stopped her laughter and answered, “Nothing, I just fell into the water while cleaning the swimming pool. They saved me!”
“What? You fell into the water?” Hao Yi, who had been frozen there, suddenly rushed over and grabbed her shoulders tightly. “You fell into the water and you’re still laughing? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up?”
“It’s fine, they saved me as soon as I fell in. I didn’t even choke on any water…”
Although Hao Ren’s expression was normal, the expression on Hao Yi’s face was still solemn. Only after Hao Ren repeatedly promised to be more careful in the future did he reluctantly let go of her hands.
Hao Ren went back to her room, took a shower, and changed her clothes. When she came out, she found Hao Yi sitting on the sofa, staring at the door of her room in a daze.
“Why didn’t you answer my phone?” As soon as he saw Hao Ren come out, he glared at her with a murderous look.
Hao Ren had thought that he had forgotten about that matter after what had happened before, but she still couldn’t escape this ordeal. So, she could only explain weakly, “You said you were going to pick me up. It was windy and rainy outside. I was worried, and I didn’t want to lie to you, so I had to turn off my phone…”
This was the truth. She was afraid that if something happened to him, she would be torn apart by Mr. and Mrs. Hao. As she was now, unless she revealed her trump card of the small animals, she still had no ability to contend with Mr. and Mrs. Hao. Given what Hao Yi had said to them before, once that trump card was revealed, she would not be far from being dissected for research.
This answer obviously pleased Hao Yi very much. Hearing this answer, a smile actually appeared on that guy’s face.
“What’s a little wind and rain? You should have trusted me!” After the smile, even the tone of his voice was not as stiff as before.
“I said I would be fine, so I would definitely be fine. You should have trusted me too!” Hao Ren smiled back at him.
Hao Yi smiled embarrassedly.
The crisis was resolved. Hao Ren took Daizi to the mountain to patrol her territory. The stray cats and dogs that had managed to survive on the mountain all had their skills. After the typhoon, not a single one of the stubborn young and strong ones who had stayed behind on the mountain was missing. Other than being a little listless, they were not seriously injured. Hao Ren let out a long sigh of relief.
When she returned home, Hao Yi was nowhere to be found. She didn’t pay much attention at first, but that guy didn’t come back until dinner time. The most frustrating thing was that his phone was even turned off. Hao Ren had called several times but couldn’t get through.
“Why didn’t you answer my phone?” As soon as Hao Yi entered, she roared at him with a murderous look.
To her surprise, seeing her angry face, Hao Yi actually smiled and replied with the expression of a successful prankster, “We’re even!”
Hao Ren was instantly speechless. Just as she was about to say something more, that brat suddenly handed her a shopping bag, his expression quite awkward.
It wasn’t that Hao Ren hadn’t received gifts from him before, but this was the first time his expression had been so strange, so she took it with a confused look. Only after opening it did she finally understand the reason for his embarrassed expression. Inside was a girl’s swimsuit.
“You’re going to university. If you’re clumsy and fall into the swimming pool then, there might not be any small animals to save you. You should try to learn how to swim! I’ll teach you tomorrow after I get out of school!” After speaking, that guy’s face turned red, and he ran away as if he were flying.
“Don’t run away yet! Dinner!” Seeing that he was about to run away, Hao Ren quickly shouted.
“I ate outside!” That guy actually tripped on the stairs on his way up and almost fell.
Hao Ren looked at her foolish little brother’s fleeing back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“That kid is quite thoughtful!” Daizi looked at his retreating back and nodded in satisfaction.
“Learn to swim…” Looking down at the swimsuit in the bag, the smile on Hao Ren’s face instantly froze. In fact, she had gone to learn to swim with Hao Yi back then. She had almost drowned, which was why she hadn’t continued. As for the reason, the private coach had only focused on Hao Yi and had completely forgotten about her existence. Later, it was Hao Yi who had found her missing and saved her life, so she had a natural fear of water.
She looked at Daizi with a stiff expression. “Uncle Daizi, is it okay if I don’t learn? Anyway, even if I fall in, there will be cats and dogs to save me…”
Unfortunately, Daizi’s answer disappointed her. “You can’t guarantee that there will be animals around every time you fall into the water. If you learn one more skill, you’ll have one more hope of survival in case of an accident in the future.”
Since even Daizi had said so, Hao Ren could only accept her fate.
After dinner, Hao Ren took out the swimsuit, which still had its tag on, from the shopping bag. Seeing the brand on the tag, Hao Ren finally understood why that guy had been so late. That brand had always been very high-end and was only available in the city. Although that guy’s face was as red as anything, when she unfolded it, the swimsuit was just the most conservative one-piece style, which greatly disappointed Lucky, who had been eagerly anticipating a bikini. Fortunately, that brand’s design had always been very tasteful. Although it was a one-piece, it was still quite nice.
“Uncle, where did you go? I missed you so much…” Hao Ren was agonizing over what to do about tomorrow’s swimming lesson when a cute, girlish voice suddenly sounded in the living room. She turned her head and saw that it was, of course, Princess. For convenience, Hao Ren had specially installed a pet door for the cats and dogs. Princess had run in through that small door as if she were flying and was now circling Daizi excitedly.
“Is it okay for you to run out so late by yourself?”
“It’s fine! My owner is here too!” Princess replied faintly, her gaze still fixed on Daizi. That look, that expression, always reminded Hao Ren of an ignorant young girl who was infatuated with a Korean idol.
Sure enough, as soon as her words fell, the doorbell rang. Hao Ren opened the door and found Princess’s owner standing at the door. Unfortunately, the expression on the woman’s face at this moment was not as simple as bringing a pet over for a visit.
Hao Ren was struggling with whether to ask her what was wrong when the woman in front of her spoke first, and the words she said made her freeze on the spot as if struck by lightning.
“Hao Ren, I’m afraid I can’t keep Princess anymore…”