☆, Chapter 26: Princess
“Dad, Mom, we’re heading back!” After releasing the three little leopard cats, Hao Yi directly said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Hao.
Mr. and Mrs. Hao exchanged a glance, and in the end, it was Hao Weiguo who spoke, “The company’s cars are a bit tight today. If you want to send all the small animals over at once, there’s only room for one person.”
It was deliberate, absolutely deliberate. Mr. and Mrs. Hao were intentionally trying to keep Hao Yi behind.
“Well then, I’ll be going!” Hao Ren had always been tactful. Since they wanted to keep Hao Yi, she naturally cooperated.
To her surprise, just as she picked up Lucky, Hao Yi walked over and grabbed her hand. “It’s fine, I’ll just take the subway with Ren.”
“The subway, that’s so tiring…” Mr. and Mrs. Hao looked heartbroken. Today, they had definitely shot themselves in the foot.
“It’s fine, it won’t take that long! I’ll leave the cats and dogs to Old Wang!” That guy Hao Yi was simple-minded and probably didn’t even realize that his parents were intentionally trying to keep him. After speaking, he pulled Hao Ren and left.
Mr. and Mrs. Hao looked helpless. Hao Ren could clearly feel two burning gazes on her back as she left. Although Hao Weiguo had been trying hard to curry favor recently, the inherent strangeness and distance could not be hidden.
Because it was a weekend, the subway was filled with university students returning to school. Just as Mr. and Mrs. Hao had said, it was really tiring. Because of the hot weather, the enclosed carriage was filled with all sorts of indescribable smells. Because it was crowded, everyone only had a small space, and sometimes physical contact was unavoidable.
To prevent Hao Ren from being squeezed, Hao Yi gallantly stood in front of her, carefully creating a small, safe area for her. However, this actually caused Hao Ren even more trouble.
At such a close distance, she could even smell the faint scent of sweat on Hao Yi. Their eyes met, and facing Hao Yi’s smiling gaze, for the first time in her life, she felt a sense of security and protection from someone other than her grandmother. Hao Ren’s heart inexplicably began to beat faster, and her cheeks even became a little hot. She quickly turned her face away.
The journey of less than an hour was not long, but because of the awkward posture between the two of them, Hao Ren felt as if a century had passed. When they got off at their stop, she let out a long sigh of relief. That guy Hao Yi must have also felt her discomfort. When he got off the car, his face was also flushed, his expression stiff.
The two of them exchanged a glance, complained about the weather being too hot, and then lowered their heads and hurried home.
This was the suburbs, and the distance between houses was not as dense as in the city. So, although the subway station was built next to the villa complex, there was still a distance to walk home. Fortunately, the environment here was quite nice, and the journey was not too difficult. Although guys like Hao Weiguo looked down on this place, it was still the suburbs of H City, and the transportation was relatively convenient, so the occupancy rate was not too low. On the way, Hao Ren even encountered several dogs that were walking their owners.
They were really walking their owners. As soon as they saw Hao Ren, those dogs couldn’t help but run over excitedly. The small dogs were fine, but with the large dogs, their owners behind them couldn’t hold them back at all and could only be led by the nose. Thanks to the dogs that came to greet them, Hao Ren and Hao Yi got to know quite a few of their neighbors.
Because they had been delayed for too long on the road, by the time they got home, the driver, Old Wang, had already delivered Hao Ren’s little friends. A large group of cats and dogs stood at the door with Old Wang, eagerly waiting for their return. As soon as he saw them, Old Wang began to praise how well-behaved and obedient these little guys were, something he had never seen in his life.
Hao Ren thanked Old Wang and quickly opened the door to let them in. With Daizi and Lucky there, there was no need to count. As soon as she entered, Hao Ren was about to go and feed them when she subconsciously glanced over and found that there seemed to be one extra.
It was a purebred Chihuahua, with a well-proportioned and strong body, a shiny coat, and a collar studded with sparkling rhinestones. It was clear at a glance that it was not a dog from an ordinary family. The old, weak, sick, and disabled that Hao Ren had picked up were all really ugly due to long-term malnutrition, and one could tell at a glance that they were stray dogs and cats. This healthy and beautiful Chihuahua, mixed in with them, stood out like a crane among chickens.
Hao Ren beckoned to the Chihuahua, and the little guy immediately ran over, wagging its tail and circling her excitedly, constantly shouting “Long live Your Majesty.” Hao Ren secretly glanced at the dog tag; its name was Princess.
“Princess, where did you come from?” This little one had just run into someone else’s house without a word. Its owner must be very anxious now that they couldn’t find it.
“Nearby!” It was a tender, childish voice. It was still a puppy.
“Where is nearby?”
“Nearby is nearby! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I’m so happy, I can actually see you in person. I love you just like they do. Can you let me stay?” The Chihuahua blinked its large, wet eyes, its face full of excitement, clearly having already forgotten its miserable owner.
“No! You’re different from them, you have an owner!” Hao Ren said and was about to reach out to look at its dog tag. The Chihuahua, which had been so affectionate towards her, suddenly ran away like a frightened deer, hiding in the gap next to the sofa and refusing to come out no matter what.
“Princess, come out! Your owner will be anxious if they can’t find you!”
“No! I want to stay by Your Majesty’s side!”
“Princess, I have beef jerky in my hand, come out!”
“No! I’m not an idiot, you’re trying to trick me out!”
…
Hao Ren and Hao Yi used all their strength but still couldn’t trick it out. After a long and fruitless struggle, they could only let it be for the time being.
Fortunately, after Hao Ren and the others finished dinner, the starving Chihuahua finally couldn’t help but poke its head out from the gap in the sofa and was subdued in a few moves by Daizi and Lucky, who had been lying in ambush there.
Hao Ren quickly took out her newly bought mobile phone and dialed the owner’s number. The person who answered the phone was a young woman who indeed lived nearby. Upon receiving the call, she immediately rushed over in a hurry.
“Princess, how did you end up here?” As soon as she saw the Chihuahua, the woman immediately rushed over and hugged it tightly.
“Stop it! I want to stay here!” The owner was so worried about it, but the little brat was still ungrateful, whimpering and struggling for a long time. In the end, it was forcefully taken away by its owner.
Because its home was not far from here, from that day on, the Chihuahua named Princess would often sneak over to Hao Ren’s place when its owner wasn’t paying attention. Sometimes the owner would come looking for it, and sometimes Hao Ren or Hao Yi would send it back. Anyway, both sides were exhausted.
Hao Ren, Hao Yi, and the dog’s owner didn’t mind, treating it as an after-dinner walk. But the old, weak, sick, and disabled that Hao Ren had adopted were full of resentment. They would often come to Hao Ren and say a few bad things about Princess, and occasionally a cat would even sneak over and give it a hard scratch when it wasn’t paying attention. Although the dogs weren’t as obvious as the cats, they were equally unfriendly towards Princess.
At first, Hao Ren thought they were just simply annoyed that Princess was deliberately causing trouble for her and its owner. It was only later, when she heard the cats secretly discussing how naive and foolish Princess was, and how full of herself she was, that she suddenly realized that it wasn’t just humans who were resentful of the rich; cats and dogs were the same.
A purebred dog like Princess had never experienced the scheming and intrigue of stray dogs and cats. When others deliberately tricked it, it thought they were just playing with it, and it was tricked badly several times. After suffering a few times, it finally felt the hostility of the old, weak, sick, and disabled towards it and slowly kept its distance from them.
Unfortunately, despite everyone’s efforts, they still failed to drive Princess away. Because that one had latched onto Daizi. It was probably because Daizi had stood up for it once when a certain cat had deliberately spilled milk on it.
All the cats and dogs here regarded Daizi as their leader. After discovering that the leader did not like them bullying Princess, their behavior finally became a little more restrained. After the previous heroic rescue, and later discovering Daizi’s transcendent status among the group of cats and dogs, Princess completely regarded Daizi as her idol, her young girl’s heart fluttering.
“Uncle, how did you lose that front leg?”
“Uncle, slow down, wait for me!”
“Uncle, this is a new chicken sandwich my owner bought. Try it!”
…
Discovering that Daizi did not dislike it, that one would come over to play with Daizi every day. Not only did it pester Daizi with questions, but it also often brought some food to share with Daizi, which made even Hao Ren unable to resist teasing Daizi about his good fortune with the ladies.
“Just a little one under a year old. I’m not a lolicon!” Unfortunately, that guy Daizi was completely clueless about romance.
“Besides, love between different breeds will not have a good ending!” As he spoke, Daizi’s gaze quietly fell on Ah Hua, who was curled up on the sofa.
Thinking of Ah Hua’s experience, the smile on Hao Ren’s face quickly disappeared, and she no longer had the mood to continue teasing. If it weren’t for the fact that Ah Hua was an impure mixed-breed dog, her life would surely be as carefree as Princess’s now.
Perhaps this new home reminded it of its past experiences. Ah Hua had become a little listless again during this time, only knowing how to hug that little tail and sleep on the sofa all day. It would only liven up a little at meal times. Occasionally, when it glanced at Princess, who was visiting, its gaze was filled with mixed emotions.
Hao Ren was very worried and would force it to go to the garden to play with the other cats and dogs every day, which made it a little better.
In fact, sometimes Hao Ren could understand the reaction of the cats and dogs towards Princess. The existence of some people in this world seems to be to highlight the misery of others. For those old, weak, sick, and disabled who had tasted the warmth and cold of human relationships and had suffered a lot, to feel disgusted with the healthy and beautiful Princess, who was constantly complaining about her owner being long-winded and annoying and the taste of the homemade dog food not being good, was also natural.
Just like Hao Ren herself, sometimes she couldn’t help but want to pinch Hao Yi hard.