Husky’s Side Chapter 2

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Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
Borrowing money

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500 plus 8.37. It was obviously useless.

Even if he added Xiao Huangmao’s* fifty, it was still just a drop in the bucket.

[T/N: 小黄毛/little yellow hair]

Although the small clinic looked to be very sympathetic to people, Zhou Li estimated that this amount of money will definitely not be enough.

He sighed and sorted out his personal information under the symphony of cats and dogs. Knowing that it would be useless to find a parent, he cheekily clicked on the WeChat group named “Brothers for a Lifetime” and prepared to start a fundraiser. Currently, this was the only option.

There were a total of eight people in the group, all of whom were extremely talented in skipping classes and fighting.

The family conditions of these little brats were quite similar. Two families were even on government subsidies. The original owner of this body was able become their boss because one, he was cruel; and two, because he was the richest out of all of them.

Zhou Li thought about the two households relying on subsidies and his face became even hotter. With his greatest sincerity, he added, “You guys, don’t force yourselves, do what you can. If it’s not enough then I’ll just think of another way.”

All the hooligans were shocked.

Their Ying-ge* always scolded them even if they said two word wrongly. Since when did he begin sighing with such a low voice?

[T/N: Brother Eagle]

No, they can’t let Ying-ge suffer this grievance!

Several of them acted out of loyalty to their brother and paid upright.

Among them, the second richest one threw a huge sum of 200 yuan on the spot and the rest paid in dozens. Even the stingy-as-hell Xiao Huangmao put in another ten dollars. Just like this, eight people raised more than 1,000 yuan in one go.

[T/N: 200 yuan: 30 USD, 1000 yuan: 150 USD]

Zhou Li was a little bit emotional. For the first time in his life he realised the value that 1000 yuan held. He replied, “Thanks. When school starts again I’ll return it all back, doubled.”

The little gangster group naturally didn’t want it, with voice and text messages quickly covering the screen.

All these “this little bit of money is worth it”, “isn’t it because we’re brothers”, “don’t mention money if we’re brothers”… They were obviously all brats in their teenage years with a full set of mouths.

Zhou Li was a little embarrassed at first, but right now he couldn’t help but feel happy. He was about to let out a couple of words in reply when he heard the doctor calling him, so he rushed over.

They x-ray was complete and showed the misaligned front left leg and cracked rib. The rest of the injuries were skin wounds. An ointment was prescribed and a drip was needed.

Everything together resulted in a bill with ‘900’ at the bottom. Zhou Li paid the money under the painful eyes of Xiao Huangmao. He accepted the plastic stool handed to him by the nurse, thanked them, then resigned to guarding a certain uncle’s* infusion.

[T/N: same ‘uncle’ used for the cat, but this time it has a respectful meaning]

Seeing that he was quite polite, the little nurse ignored his red hair and asked, “Is this your dog?”

Zhou Li said, “No, I picked it up next to the rubbish bins.”

The little nurse was furious. “I can’t believe these dog abusers can be considered human beings!”

Zhou Li replied, “They really aren’t. It’s too frustrating, how they can swing down their hands on such a cute puppy like this one.”

The little nurse said, “Retribution will come sooner or later!”

Zhou Li echoed, “That’s right.” It’s just, why does this ‘retribution’ leave a funny taste in his mouth?

The little nurse continued, “Ai, fortunately it was able to meet you two.”

Zhou Li said, “There was no other way. After all, I’m a kind-hearted person, I’d never want to see little animals suffer.”

Xiao Huangmao: “……”

Hello? Ying-ge, have you lost your memory?

Zhou Li casually made conversation and began to consult the precautions for raising a dog, listening very carefully.

Xiao Huangmao couldn’t understand so he earnestly became a transparent person. When the little nurse finally went to take care of other masters in this building, he finally asked out of curiosity, “Ying-ge, you plan on raising it?”

Zhou Li said, “Temporarily.”

Xiao Huangmao had an epiphany. He must be wanting to raise it before selling.

He was immediately anxious and his stingy-as-hell attributes broke out. “But this… This isn’t a good deal ah. You have to go back and forth to the clinic and buy dog food and vaccinations. What if it gets better and grows up a bit, no one would want to buy such a big dog. Aren’t you just spending money on nothing?”

Zhou Li enlightened him, “You don’t understand. There are some things in this world that can’t be measured by money, but by other things.”

Xiao Huangmao said, “What things?”

Zhou Li said, “Your Ge’s* deep love.”

[T/N: “哥”/Ge: older brother]

Xiao Huangmao: “……”

Was something wrong with Ying-ge today?

Zhou Li calmly said, “Don’t worry ba, your Ge knows.”

This wasn’t an ordinary dog. This was the King of Hell*. Even if he lost money, he must raise him well.

[T/N: “阎王爷”/Lord Yan: god in charge of hell in buddism/Yama]

He touched the puppy’s head and was able to find joy in his suffering through imagined the scene in which the King of Hell obviously wanted to kill him but had to be raised by him instead. Feeling more than a little sour, he mercilessly asked, “What do you think of the name ‘Dog Egg’?”

[T/N: “狗蛋”/gou dan: can mean dog testicles…]

Amused, Xiao Huangmao barked out a “ha”, but before he could answer, the husky lying on the operation table opened his eyes and stared at them.

Zhou Li: “……”

I apologise, I was wrong.

He hurriedly salvaged the situation, pretending to be pleasantly surprised and exclaiming “you’re finally awake”. He wanted to chat with Xiao Huangmao just for a bit so the topic can be changed, but instead Xiao Huangmao laughed and proceeded to express his opinion. “Waking up just as you said it, seems as if it likes this name.”

Zhou Li said. “…or maybe it wants to bite people, but has no strength.”

Xiao Huangmao replied, “It’s a dog, just keep calling it that and it’ll get used to it.”

En*, but the one who dies in the end will be me.

[T/N: a hum/grunt of confirmation]

Zhou Li looked at his pig teammate* and wanted to kick the other person out but he underestimated the power of money, as Xiao Huangmao changed his words all by himself. “We can’t do that though. Names are very important, we should just leave it to the customer. Let’s not choose one.”

[T/N: useless/noob teammate]

Zhou Li looked at him with respect and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “Go and pour some water, see if he’s thirsty.”

Xiao Huangmao asked the nurse for a small paper bowl and went to the drinking fountain to fill it up with water before placing it in front of the husky.

Ji Shaoyan glanced at them, then bowed his head to drink the water.

Zhou Li secretly said to himself, as expected.

Judging by the description provided in the original text, Ji Shaoyan had very weak emotions. The only ‘thing’ that can could pull out a stronger emotion from him was his grandfather, who raised him from a young age. On top of that, he was extremely capable of pretending. Even if he wanted to cut someone into pieces in his heart, his face still displayed an elegant and gentle attitude.

If it were someone else in his position, to suddenly fall from being the favoured son of the heavens to becoming a beast, then caught and put on the market by a gangster, then abused when the trafficking attempt ended in failure, then waking up only to come face to face with that little bastard hooligan, it was absolutely impossible to be so calm. After desperately fighting for your life after repeated blows to your body, it was a normal and understandable reaction to furiously rush over to the assailant and tear off a piece of his flesh.

But Ji Shaoyan was able to remain calm, almost to the point of being abnormal.

Zhou Li even felt a touch of grace in the slow motion of drinking water. He touched the head of the dog again and found that there was no sign of rejection or avoidance. It was as if his hand didn’t exist.

Figures. He withdrew his hand speechlessly.

But it’s fine. He has already thought of a way to turn the tide so he should be able to hold on for now.

Ji Shaoyan stopped drinking after a few sips of water.

He was kicked in the head by this hooligan before and his mind was still buzzing. Right now, he didn’t have the energy to think about anything else. He understood that staying in the veterinary clinic was not dangerous for the time being so he fell asleep without a care.

Xiao Huangmao stayed in the clinic for half an hour more before he was sent away by Zhou Li.

In the summer afternoon, the owners of this building finally decided they had made enough trouble and fell asleep in their cages, all sprawled out on their backs.

The doctor entered a little room farther in the clinic, probably to take a nap. The little nurse put on headphones and took out a tablet, sitting at the front desk to watch a drama. The clinic quickly became quiet.

Zhou Li was finally able to turn his attention to this shell of his.

He pulled up the front camera of his phone and took a photo. This person seemed to fit the character profile he had made in his head. There was a head full of newly dyed red hair, the type of colour that was unappealing to the eye, though the looks alone weren’t all that bad. Perhaps the original owner had many scenes during the early stages of the plot so the author granted him a pretty good face. It’s a pity his personality was so problematic.

Zhou Li thought about the original owner’s current family environment and frowned.

The original owner’s mother had long passed away and there were two people who remained in the family; one was him and the other was his father, Qian Duoshu. Qian Duoshu not only loved to drink, but he also had a inclination to domestic violence, which was also the main cause of the original owner’s mental illness.

He let out a “ze“* in his heart and hoped to get through this summer holiday safely.

[T/N: clicking of the tongue]

One uncle was enough to bother him, he didn’t want to deal with an alcoholic and violent man on top of that.

Zhou Li turned off the camera and checked the apps on the phone.

This fictional world lagged behind his by a few years. Mobile payments have just become popular, short videos* have not yet appeared, and the development of mobile games was much slower than that in his world. This phone only had Fruit Ninja and Candy Crush, which made him feel rather nostalgic.

[T/N: don’t really know to describe this, but it’s like those quick Youtube videos that go viral]

After turning through chat records on WeChat and KaKaoTalk he was able to find some clues about the original owner’s social interactions, so he muted his phone and started to play Fruit Ninja.

This game was quite magical. He became unknowingly fascinated and didn’t stop until his battery was fully drained. Seeing that there was only a small amount of drip left in the bag, he dedicated himself to waiting until the infusion was complete before calling the nurse to pull out the needle.

The little nurse said, “It’s better for the transfusion to last for another day. How about we keep the needle in, and you’ll leave it here for the night?”

Zhou Li answered very honestly, “I don’t have enough money. I’ll take him home and watch over him for now.” 

The little nurse didn’t try to persuade him anymore. She removed the bandages and pulled out the needle. Seeing how the husky had closed it’s eyes closed during the whole process, staying so quiet it was almost strange, her expression suddenly looked solemn. There was the fear that the dog was allergic to drugs, even though she had observed it before she was able to leave with absolute confidence ah!

She nervously said, “Why…why isn’t it waking up? Did it get a head injury?”

Surprised, Zhou Li walked over. “Really? Let me see.”

He poked a certain uncle around and found this person to be imitating the dead. Speedily looking around the room, he was pleasantly surprised to see a soft shuttlecock placed inside a cabinet. He picked it up and returned to the table side, then tickled the dog’s nose with the feathered tips.

“Achoo——!”

The husky suddenly sneezed, very loudly.

Zhou Li put the shuttlecock to the side and said, “I think there’s nothing wrong with him.”

The little nurse: “……”

Ji Shaoyan: “……” 

The little nurse stared at him.

Zhou Li said, “I’d come across an injured dog in the past. Because it was abused by the owner who raised it for many years, by the time it was rescued it was as if the dog could no longer love anything or anything. It no longer cared for the world.” 

The little nurse listened with distress. “Really?”

“Yes,” Zhou Li said with a pained voice, “little animals all have feelings. Just look at him, so small yet enduring the pain he never should have experienced. It’s understandable for him to be a fool for a while.”

The little nurse looked at the weak and poor husky, then sighed and touched the dog’s head.

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

Zhou Li knew to quit while ahead and expressed his intentions to pull the puppy back into the beautiful world with a warm heart, bid farewell to the little nurse, then left the clinic.

He could probably guess Ji Shaoyan’s plan.

Ji Shaoyan learned from the previous conversation that the gangsters still wanted to put him on the market, so he pretended to be sick.

This was similar to the psychology of a gambler. The money had already been spent and in order to avoid losing the money, the hooligan was likely to continue his treatment. At the very least, he should try stay in the clinic for one more day. It was best for the gangster to lose more money to the clinic, maybe then he’ll leave him here and no longer care.

Even if the gangster did not want him to be treated and chooses to abuse him again, he’d still have to leave the clinic and find a place with no one around, and during this process there could be a chance for him to run away. And even there was no chance, it wasn’t as if he was an idiot. He’ll just wake up and stop the gangster from abusing him.

Of course, Zhou Li was just guessing. Maybe this master had a more showy operation planned.

But no matter what, he must stop the dog before anything else and make good impression.

Ji Shaoyan was hugged firmly in his arms. Listening to him hum a little song, he felt that the mood of this kid was particularly stable, with no hint of anger at all.

He guessed that it was not possible for him to escape at this time so he opened his eyes, planning to memorise the route in case he ended up having no idea where he was taken to.

Zhou Li became happy when he saw this. “Yo, finally woke up?”

Ji Shaoyan was too lazy to look at him.

Zhou Li gently stroked his fur. “I know you’re blaming me for hitting you, but it wasn’t me who beat you up. I am the second personality of this body, so strictly speaking, it was my personality that saved you.”

The murderer becomes the benefactor. Perfect.

As long as he remains here, Ji Shaoyan probably won’t move against him. If his soul disappears, by the time Ji Shaoyan comes to settle accounts, it will have nothing to do with him.

He looked expectantly at the husky in his arms, waiting for his response.

Ji Shaoyan continued to lie motionlessly, not even sparing him a glance. He was completely indifferent.

Zhou Li: “……”

Oh, this person doesn’t care at all, please cure him.

He thought to himself that this situation was truly difficult, then began to sing his performance. “In order to prevent my other personality from coming out and beating you up again, I’ll wait until you get better, then I’ll find a good person to look after you.” 

After a pause, he realised he didn’t seem to have blocked off his underlying frustrated mood, and kindly said, “You can just relax, Dog Egg.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

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I’ve changed nicknames to their pinyin form (Little Yellow = Xiao Huangmao, Brother Eagle = Ying-ge, Second Brother = Er-ge) since I realised they just, don’t have names in this novel (other than ZL, but Ying-ge will be used for continuity in their group). To make it feel as though they kind of have names (in conversations, etc), I’ll use pinyin for all the kids in this group of hooligans (and be incredibly inconsistent for anyone else, sorry).

Also, for most of the ML’s dog state, he is described as ‘autistic’. I don’t know anyone on the spectrum to ask if the use of this word in this context is okay (since autistic will be used by Zhou Li and others to describe how quiet and unresponsive he is from a normal dog). For now, I’ll replace autistic with ‘fool’/’vegetable’/etc as descriptions for JSY’s dog state, though I’d really appreciate it if anyone on the spectrum has their opinions and can advise me. Thanks!