☆, Chapter 30: The Mistress
Hao Ren looked down at Princess. Its owner was about to abandon it, but the little one was completely unaware, still circling Daizi and asking questions.
“Why?” Hao Ren was very curious about the reason. Princess’s owner had a conflicted expression, and it was clear that this was not her own decision.
Hearing Hao Ren’s question, Princess’s owner let out a long sigh. “I’m pregnant, two months already.”
Hearing this answer, Hao Ren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Is that all? It’s no big deal. So, she sighed in relief and said with a smile, “You can still keep a dog when you’re pregnant. Princess has definitely had all her vaccinations, right? And she’s been dewormed, both internally and externally, right?”
She nodded.
“Then it’s fine. You can continue to keep her with peace of mind. The zoonotic diseases you’re worried about are all based on the premise that the pet is sick. Look at your Princess, she’s so healthy and full of energy!” Although Hao Ren was not a veterinarian, she had a veterinarian netizen named “South of the South.” In her past life, she had been bored and often browsed pet forums, so her knowledge of pets was much richer than that of an ordinary person.
Hearing her words, Princess’s owner had a look of disbelief.
Hao Ren could only continue to persuade her, “Many people abroad raise dogs and children together. It’s great for children to grow up with dogs! I saw a video online before of a dog taking care of a baby, it was so cute. Princess will definitely be a good big sister!”
After being brainwashed by Hao Ren for a long time, Princess’s owner finally went back with Princess, relieved. But Hao Ren lost sleep because of her. Having seen too many stray cats and dogs abandoned by their owners, she couldn’t sleep at all at the thought that even a dog like Princess could not escape the same fate. Anyway, she was on summer vacation and didn’t have to go to class tomorrow, so she simply got up and turned on her computer.
It was rare, but in the middle of the night, South of the South was actually online.
“Brother Nan, can’t sleep?”
“Yeah, ran into a little trouble. What about you, why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Someone wants to abandon their dog again because they’re pregnant. It’s so sad.”
“What do you mean ‘again’?”
“A few days ago, I just adopted a British Shorthair that threw itself at me. Purebred, for the same reason. This time it’s a purebred Chihuahua. From the owner’s meaning, it seems she wants to give it to me to raise…”
After a moment of silence, South of the South sent over a few impressive-looking papers, the kind written by foreigners, and they were even in both Chinese and English.
“You can print these articles out and show them.”
“Thank you, I hope it’s useful! By the way, what’s your little trouble?”
“It’s nothing, just my old man starting to nag again.”
Hao Ren hadn’t noticed in her past life, but in this life, she suddenly realized that South of the South was also a tycoon. Of course, he was a more individualistic tycoon, whose daily mission was to anger his own father to the point of vomiting three liters of blood. Hao Ren thought about it and agreed. If Hao Yi had also run off to become a veterinarian like him, Hao Weiguo would surely vomit three liters of blood every day as well.
After complaining with South of the South about his father who didn’t consider his children’s feelings, Hao Ren printed out the papers and went to bed. If she said it, they wouldn’t believe it, but Princess’s owner would surely listen to the words of a foreign expert. After putting her mind at ease, she finally fell into a comfortable sleep.
The next morning, she delivered the papers to Princess’s owner’s home.
To her surprise, as she was coming out of Princess’s house, she was stopped by an old lady walking her dog. Hao Ren had met this old lady before and had greeted her. She lived nearby. According to her dog, she had been brought over from the countryside by her son to enjoy her old age, but it was obvious that she was not happy. Every day, besides playing with cats and walking dogs, she would just find people to chat with about the gossip of the nearby residents. She had to admit, this one’s gossip skills were top-notch. Even Hao Ren had been tricked into revealing a lot of information.
“Young lady, you go to that house often, don’t you?” The old lady’s expression was quite strange as she glanced at Princess’s owner’s house.
“Yes. What’s wrong?” Seeing her expression, it was clear that she was about to drop a bombshell. Hao Ren cooperatively asked.
Hearing this, the old lady indeed leaned in close to her ear with a mysterious look. “I’m telling you, but you can’t tell anyone else…”
After looking around like a secret agent, she continued, “That woman is actually a mistress.”
The old lady had a simple and honest personality and had not yet been polluted by the twisted values of the city. Her expression was quite contemptuous when she mentioned the word “mistress.”
“That man has a wife and children at home. The eldest of his two daughters is eighteen this year. That woman doesn’t look to be over twenty-five, but she’s with a man who could be her father. Tsk, tsk, young people these days…”
After finishing her gossip, the old lady left with mixed feelings, leaving Hao Ren standing there in a slight daze.
In the Xiaoshan villa area, the environment was quiet and the scenery was excellent. Because it was located in the suburbs of H City, it was not only a good place for vacations and retirement, but also an excellent place to keep a mistress. Hearing that a mistress lived here, Hao Ren was not surprised. What surprised her was that that person was Princess’s owner.
Although Princess’s owner was quite good-looking, she had always been bare-faced and did not have that unpleasant vixen-like aura. In fact, she was more like a kind and amiable big sister next door, which was why Hao Ren had been able to get along with her so happily at first. It was a world apart from the charming and sophisticated image of a mistress in Hao Ren’s impression, so although the one who told her the truth was the grandmother known for being a know-it-all, she still couldn’t quite believe it.
Because of her mother, her favorability towards the creature known as a mistress was naturally negative. Her favorability had already been reduced a lot because the other party was preparing to abandon Princess. Now, she could no longer play happily with her.
After taking a deep look at the “big sister next door” who was happily playing with Princess, Hao Ren frowned and decided to have nothing to do with her from now on.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel. That night, the “big sister next door” came knocking on her door, crying and holding Princess.
Although she didn’t like mistresses, seeing the other party standing at the door, crying her eyes out and out of breath, Hao Ren couldn’t bring herself to shut her out. She could only let her in.
“He… wooo wooo… he still won’t let me keep her… wooo wooo…”
With the know-it-all old lady’s explanation, Hao Ren of course knew who the “he” she was talking about was.
“Wooo wooo… he said it’s better to be safe than sorry… said that if I continue to keep Princess, I’ll kill his son… wooo wooo… and said that the next time he sees Princess, he’ll… he’ll throw it out… wooo wooo…”
Given that the other party was crying so miserably and was pregnant, Hao Ren couldn’t just ignore her. She suppressed her discomfort, hugged her, and patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
Perhaps finally sensing the unease in its owner, this time Princess finally did not circle Daizi. It sat to the side, looking at its owner, who was crying her eyes out, with a concerned look, but its expression was still blank. Obviously, it was not one of the gifted special beings like Daizi and Lucky that could understand human language.
After crying for a long time, Princess’s owner finally calmed down.
“What are you going to do?”
“Can… can you adopt Princess? Other than you, I don’t feel at ease giving it to anyone else…” The woman in front of her had none of the cunning and aura that Hao Ren imagined a mistress should have. She was weakly begging, like a dog waiting for its owner’s pity. Hao Ren really felt that she couldn’t understand her. Was she a green tea bitch? Would a green tea bitch cry like this for a dog? Even if she were pretending, she wouldn’t have to go to this extent, right?
“Alright, then give it to me…” Hao Ren sighed faintly and picked up the blank-faced Princess. With Princess’s personality, if it were really thrown outside, it would surely starve to death in a few days.
Seeing that Hao Ren was willing to take in Princess, the woman’s face finally looked a little better. Hao Ren could also see that her feelings for Princess were real. She sat there, her eyes glued to Princess, the sadness and helplessness in her eyes even moving Hao Ren.
Although she was extremely reluctant, after drinking a cup of hot tea and calming down, she finally had to take her leave.
Hao Ren saw her out. Princess, who still hadn’t figured out the situation, immediately followed.
“Master! Master! Wait for me! You forgot me! Hold me, hold me! I don’t want to walk by myself! The ground is so wet, it’ll get my paws dirty!”
Although Princess’s owner was still sobbing and wiping her tears, she did not turn back. Not only did she not turn back, but she even quickened her pace upon hearing Princess’s cries.
Princess spread her four hooves and chased after her as if she were flying. If it were before, it would have been happy for its owner to leave it here, but this time, it must have guessed something from its owner’s performance just now. It chased very urgently. Hao Ren had to have Daizi block it for a moment before she could finally catch up to it.
A Chihuahua is very small. With a light scoop, Hao Ren held it in her arms.
“Your owner doesn’t want you anymore!” Although it was cruel, Hao Ren had to tell it the reality.
Hearing this, Princess’s small body trembled. “You… you’re lying!”
“It’s true.” Hao Ren sighed and stroked its cute little head.
“You’re lying! Lying! Lying! Lying!” Princess struggled and broke free from Hao Ren’s embrace. Although it was shouting “lying,” it did not continue to chase its owner. Instead, it rushed into the house and squeezed into the same sofa gap it had hidden in before.
Once inside, it lay there with a depressed look, motionless.
Hao Ren and Hao Yi couldn’t reach that spot, so they could only let it be for the time being. Fearing that something might happen to it, Hao Ren specially left Daizi downstairs to keep an eye on it.
“Uncle Daizi, she can’t even protect her own dog. Will she be able to protect her own child in the future?” Before going back to her room to sleep, Hao Ren looked at Princess in the sofa gap and sighed faintly. This “she,” Hao Ren was of course referring to Princess’s owner.
For some reason, when she said this, Hao Ren unconsciously thought of her own mother. She even overlapped her unborn child with her past self. Compared to Princess, that child was the truly pitiful one. Putting aside the identity of an illegitimate child, with a mother who was not strong enough, a child was destined to have a more difficult life than ordinary people.
Daizi did not answer her, but just walked to the carpet in front of the sofa gap and lay down silently.
“Uncle, my owner doesn’t want me anymore, wooo wooo…” Princess, who had been hiding quietly inside, finally couldn’t help but whimper and cry upon seeing Daizi.
She had originally arranged to learn to swim with Hao Yi, but with something like this happening with Princess, Hao Ren was not in the mood at all. She said they would learn another day, which greatly disappointed Hao Yi, who had been looking forward to it.