Husky’s Side Chapter 20

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Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
Goodbye to this summer

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After Ji Shaoyan went through two rounds of pushing the ball around, he noticed that the silly fool’s mood had quickly changed from overcast to clear.

But not only did his mood do a complete turn around, this guy also burst into song.

“To all my common folk, I’m so happy tonight hou!” Zhou Li held his little paws and sand his heart out, regardless of his broken gong of a voice. “To all my common folk, I’m so happy tonight pei!“

[T/N: 今儿个真高兴/I am so happy tonight, by Xie Xiaodong]

Ji Shaoyan “……”

Just before, he had thought that because this silly fool spent so much time on reflection, he only realised he was sad once he sent away Qian Duoshu.  

Looking at him now, what he saw was the lack of muscles in his brain, and the number of missing muscles may be hitting critical highs. He was almost missing enough parts of his brain that it was teetering on the edge of disaster*.

[T/N: a house in danger of collapsing]

Zhou Li naturally didn’t know of Uncle Dog’s unspoken slander. Even if he did, he didn’t care. 

But his greatest joy soon turned into his greatest sorrow when all his howling songs stretched the wound on his face. Hissing from the pain, he finally put Uncle Dog down and stopped behaving like a demon, turning away to apply medicine onto himself.

Once he dealt with the injuries on the body, it was now time to sleep.

The bedroom sunk into darkness and the one-boy-one-dog duo curled into each other together, falling asleep one after another.

The next morning, Zhou Li heard the sound of the front door opening the moment he woke up.

His whole body ached and he had no desire to move about much. He lazily stayed in bed, lying down until he saw that Uncle Dog was also awake. Only then did he move, stretching his hand out to fluff up the dog’s fur before getting up and walking out the room with the other hugged in his arms. 

Qian Duoshu was in the middle of his breakfast. When he saw him, his hand shook slightly, and the spoon fell into the bowl of congee.

Not caring to pick it back up, he instead looked at his son’s face. His lips wobbled as he said, “Awake?”

Zhou Li replied with an “en“.

Qian Duoshu said, “I bought breakfast, come and eat.”

Zhou Li let out another “en” and went into the bathroom to brush his and Uncle Dog’s teeth. Once he came out, instead of sitting down at the dining table, he turned back into his bedroom and came out carrying the electric toothbrush, throwing it on the table. “Nuo, I bought this for you.”

Qian Duoshu instantly felt as if he had been slapped. It was the first time he had felt so embarrassed in front of his son. 

He took two deep breaths to relieve the sniffles building up in his nose and said with a dumb voice, “Keep it with you for now. Wait for me to change, then you…you can give it to me.”

 Zhou Li was noncommittal, turning to take out two small steamed buns from the plastic bag to feed the dog, then sitting down at the table. 

The father and son pair sat in relative silence were relatively speechless. During this period, Qian Duoshu made several attempts to speak up but ultimately ended up unsuccessful with every go. Only when he saw that his son had finished eating and was about to get up did he stop him and say, “Liye.”

Zhou Li raised his eyes and looked at him.

Qian Duoshu stayed quiet for few seconds before finally admitting his mistakes. “This time, I was wrong. I’ve thought about it; I can’t go on like this anymore. I’m planning to go see a doctor. You…”

He considered his wording. “Your situation, it should also be checked out. Let’s both go and get treated together.” 

Sure enough, if you lived long enough, you’ll see everything. Zhou Li had lived long enough to come across a father and son pair that were both admitting themselves into the psychiatric department, and he was actually one of the participants. He looked at Qian Duoshu and saw that while the other person’s expression displayed his embarrassment, it was also very earnest, so he nodded. “That works.”

He didn’t actually have a split personality, so it didn’t matter if he went to get his brain checked. Whether domestic violence was something that can be cured, he wasn’t sure either, but since Qian Duoshu was willing to take this step, he wanted to see the results.

Doing the math, if the plot continued down the same road, it will only take just a little over two more weeks until the rich family stumbles upon him. Even if the changes that can be made at this point are small, it was better than doing nothing.

Qian Duoshu’s expression relaxed. “Then, let’s go when you’re healed.”

Zhou Li had no objections. He returned to his room and saw that Uncle Dog was still in the middle of eating, so he took out his phone to ask Song Yingshi if she was free today.

The other side quickly replied, saying that she was going to accompany her grandma for a walk in the village and that she would be back at noon.

Zhou Li glanced at the husky who was still eating and a strange feeling of reluctance came up at the thought of giving him away, so he made an appointment with her to meet in the evening and then squatted in front of the husky, stretching out a hand to ruffle the other’s fur as he faintly let out a sigh. 

Ji Shaoyan swallowed the food in his mouth and sent him a look.

Zhou Li said, “It’s nothing, just eat your food. When you’re finished, I’ll take you to remove the fixing tape.”

Ji Shaoyan’s paw had stopped throbbing since a while ago and having his limbs taped down hindered his movements. Hearing about the upcoming removal of the bandage, his heart swelled with satisfaction. Once he was finished with his breakfast he remained in place, squatting down and staring up at him. Zhou Li picked him up and the two of them went to the veterinary clinic.

 Inside the small clinic were still the same two people as last time.

The little masters of this building had been swapped out for another batch and the moment they stepped through the door, they were meet with the “ao ao” howling of multiple masters.

The little nurse had a very strong impression of him from last time and suddenly gasped when she saw him. “What happened to your face?”

Zhou Li was helpless. “It’s a long story. Come, see to him first.”  

The nurse didn’t think it would be too polite to ask and picked a more relaxing topic to discuss while she removed the fixing bandage. “You dyed your hair back.”

Zhou Li boasted, “En, I think I’m more handsome with black hair.” 

The little nurse puffed out a laugh and continued to check the husky’s front legs, saying, “The recovery was very good, there’s no need to for it to be wrapped anymore.”

She checked the other injuries and found that they were all healed, so she asked, “It hasn’t been vaccinated, you don’t know ba?”

Zhou Li nodded.

He had picked up this dog from the streets and the original novel did not say whether the dog was vaccinated or not, but he remembered from his readings that Song Yingshi once took the husky for a shot.

The little nurse said, “Just in case, it’d be best if you vaccinate it. On top of that, this dog can be neutered in just 6 more months, so you have to consider whether or not to perform the surgery. Though, it’s better early than late.”

“……” Zhou Li turned to look at Uncle Dog and saw that the other person was acting as if they didn’t hear this option, remaining particularly calm.

With a lowered hand, he raised the husky’s hind legs to take a look at a certain part. Seeing that Young Master Ji was still undisturbed, he knew that this guy didn’t take it seriously.

Because one, this body wasn’t his own; two, the person in question had no interest in attracting a little female dog, so sterilised just meant sterilised, it didn’t particularly matter.

However… Zhou Li lightly touched Uncle Dog’s head, thinking, Young Master, have you ever thought that if you don’t change back in time, it’s you who will suffer the pain ah!

Ji Shaoyan’s face was touched by him several times over. When he glanced over, he saw a very subtle expression on the boy’s face. It was unclear which door he had opened in the mental hallway of crazy people. 

Zhou Li noticed Young Master Ji’s gaze and retracted his hand to let the little nurse give the shot before leaving with the husky.

Around ten minutes after their departure, two young men came into the clinic and handed the nurse and slip of paper, asking politely, “Excuse me, have you seen this husky around recently?” 

The little nurse took a look and found that it was a lost-dog flyer.

The photo was taken from the footage from a surveillance camera so it wasn’t very clear. Fortunately, there was a detailed description below the photo, which included the coat colour, the size, and how there was a small birthmark-like black spot on the sole of one of its paws.

She couldn’t help but think of the husky that visited the clinic just a few minutes ago and said, “I’ve seen a husky that was around the same size, but I’m not sure if there were black spots on its paws.” 

The young man said, “Do you have the owner’s contacts?” 

The little nurse shook her head. “We don’t, but it received its first vaccine shot today and there’s still two more mandatory shots, so they’ll come in again.” 

The young man left the flyer with her, requesting for her to temporarily hold back the dog’s owner when she sees the husky again and send them a message, as the rightful owner of the missing husky missed it very much, so much so that they were about to fall ill.

The little nurse was a pet owner and could imagine the pain of losing a beloved pet, so she immediately agreed.

The two young men thanked her with much gratitude and left the clinic.

Once they had walked around twenty to thirty metres out the door, the shoulders of one man collapsed as he roughly rubbed his face. “Fuck, my face almost went still from holding back*. Can you just find someone else next time you have this ‘educated and polite’ role for work?” 

[T/N: holding back laughter]

The other one said, “If it wasn’t for the higher ups who told me to, did you think I wanted to do this?” 

The first one said, “Ai, don’t you think this is too much for just a single dog? Just buy another one. Do we really need to spend so much time on this one?”

“You raise feelings when you raise a pet bei.” The other one opened the car door. “Stop speaking nonsense and quickly finish our work, I want to go back early.”

“Right, the ones who make people rich is the one we call Uncle.” 

When Zhou Li returned home, Qian Duoshu had already gone out to work.

He walked over to the sofa and sat down, hugging the husky in his arms and stroking his fur. “Eggy.”

Ji Shaoyan looked at him.

Zhou Li didn’t follow up and just continued to stroke his fur. His mood was still a little complicated. Although he was overjoyed that he had finally finished gaining the other’s favour, he was still reluctant after raising the other for many days, so after a moment of nothing he couldn’t help but call out again, “Eggy.” 

This time, Ji Shaoyan didn’t bother looking at him. After waiting and seeing how Silly Fool was still not following up with anything else after this name, he knew that it was another bout of hysteria. This guy seemed to be a more than a little abnormal since last night and was never able to recover even after a day has passed. Who knew if this guy’s brain will ever be healed.

Zhou Li placed him on his lap and cuddled him. The TV was off and the bedroom was unoccupied. He was prepared to thoroughly cherish their remaining time together. 

Unfortunately, the heavens failed to fulfil a person’s wishes. 

A little brother sent a message in the chat that informed everyone else that he was the only one at home, so they “hulalala” arrived at his door with big and small plastic bags in hand; ingredients, fruits, snacks, everything needed was present.

Zhou Li raised his eyebrows. “What’s up?” 

The little brothers yelled out in unison, “Came to have a meal.”

The truth was, Er-ge had told them everything that had transpired last night, which resulted in their incredibly distressed hearts. They felt that although Ying-ge seemed fine on the surface, his soul must be in unbearable pain. They were afraid that he would get lost in his thoughts so they came over to accompany him.

They originally planned to call out Ying-ge out to play, but Er-ge’s input made them change their minds.

Er-ge said that if they accompany Ying-ge to go out for a loud and fun day, when Ying-ge goes back home, the sudden environment change would make him think of yesterday’s events, and then his thoughts will fall down the hole to the countless times of abuse before. It was obvious that he didn’t like staying in that house, but where else could he go? Although his mother left him a certain amount of money, when they heard of Ying-ge’s intention take on and pay back 10,000 yuan for Xiao Wu as well as paying for his own tuition the other day, they were afraid he couldn’t hold on for much longer. 

Since they were unable to change the status quo for the time being, at the very least, they wanted to help Ying-ge feel better. 

After some deliberation, they decided to come and hang out with Ying-ge, which will probably be enough for Ying-ge to feel less uncomfortable when he is at home. 

Er-ge said, “Three of us managed to snatch a job in that group chat today. We’ll be able to make some money this weekend, so we came to celebrate a little.”

Zhou Li smiled. “That’s good, something like this should be celebrated.”

Er-ge patted his chest. “We’ve already bought all the ingredients. You don’t need to do anything, let us do it.”

Zhou Li was not a fool. With just one glance, it was obvious that the celebration was just a cover for staying with him.

Similarly, Ji Shaoyan could see through their disguises. For the first time since his arrival, he felt that these little gangsters also had merits. At the very least, they had come over to prevent Silly Fool from developing hysteria, which in his book was very good.

Zhou Li knew that there was a talented cook amongst his group of little brothers, so he rest assured. “Sure.”

The stingy little brother moved the plastic chairs over and positioned them out one by one, then pulled over a table. “Come, let’s play cards!”

They soon started a game of cards. Zhou Li used Qian Duoshu as an excuse to place a ban on their cigarettes.

In this smoke-free environment, sitting with a group of people while they ate, drank and played cards, it was quite comfortable.

“Pa!”

Er-ge threw his cards down, rolling up his sleeves and rushing Xiao Liu sitting to his opposite. “Laozi’s going to fight you, laozi is in the same team as you ah, are you brain dead? Did you make a mistake? Are you too cowardly to admit you made a mistake*, or do you have shit in your head ah!“

[T/N: 王八吃秤砣/to eat scales, to be determined to stick with your choices and will not be swayed easily]

Xiao Liu was clearly confused. “Aren’t you the landlord? “

Er-ge: “Laozi was landlord in the last round! “

Xiao Liu: “Oh oh oh, I’ll pay attention in the next round.”

Er-ge: “Your mother*, this is the third time you’ve said that. Every time we play cards it’s the same, just get out of here and swap someone in!” 

[T/N: literally, Ni ma (a place), homonym for ‘your mother’ (both pronounced ‘ni ma’), which is slang for f*ck] 

Xiao Liu: “Don’t say that, Er-ge, I love you.”

Er-ge: “Laozi doesn’t love you!”

Xiao Liu: “You don’t love me, but you still kiss me?”

Zhou Li: “……”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

The others: “……”

Zhou Li: “No, wait a minute, what’s the situation with you two?”

Without warning, how can you say that you guys are bent?

Er-ge was also taken aback for a moment, but quickly returned to his senses. He was terrified. “Fuck, don’t spread rumours, when did laozi kiss you?”

Xiao Liu: “When we were in kindergarten ah.” 

Er-ge was suddenly furious. “How does something in kindergarten count? If you want to be shameless, feel free——!”

Everyone: “……”

En, content is content, but they really couldn’t stand these mentally disabled idiot teens.

Zhou Li watched them kick up a fuss and immersed himself in the fun atmosphere.

Ji Shaoyan was still lying on his lap. He observed the boy for a short while and felt that Silly Fool had finally made full recovery.

Zhou Li looked at him out of the corners of his eyes and the boy hurriedly retracted his gaze, making them fall on his little brothers. After feeding him a few pieces of watermelon, he continued to stroke his fur as if it were a treasure.

At this time, Xiao Wu came out while wiping his hands with a tea towel. “Clean up a little, it’s time for dinner.”

The small group of boys let out a chorus of “okay” and quickly cleared out the table.

Once they all made it through a lively and filling meal, Zhou Li turned down to see a drowsy Young Master Ji lying on his lap, so he picked him up and walked into his room with feather-light steps, placing him on the bed. With a touch to the head, he whispered, “Eggy, sleep tight.”

Ji Shaoyan vaguely heard this sentiment but didn’t open his eyes.

The little two-dollar pinwheel had been moved by Zhou Li to sit at the window. As the light breeze blew into the room, it began to spin with a faint “shasha”. The living room was packed with boys who had the vibrancy of flying chickens and jumping dogs, their bright laughter mixing with the sweetness of watermelon. Together, they filled in the holes missing from this strange summer holiday.

Although he passed these summer days rather terribly, sometimes, he found things to be quite interesting.

Ji Shaoyan shifted around to find a comfortable posture and soon fell asleep under the effects of the vaccination.

With this nap, he slept until evening.

Opening his eyes, he saw Silly Fool staring at him with his cheeks squished against the bed.

 Zhou Li’s eyes lit up and he picked the dog up to ruffle his fur. “You woke up.”

Ji Shaoyan was still a little dizzy, so he just laid in the boy’s arms without moving.

Zhou Li repeatedly smoothed down his fur and softly said, “Eggy, your wound’s healed. Remember, I said that when you’re healed, I will find you a good person.”

Ji Shaoyan paused. He tilted his head up, looking directly at the other.

“With me and my dad’s situation, it’s not suitable for us to keep a pet. If you’re with me, then sooner or later you’ll end up getting hurt,” Zhou Li said as he picked up a bag packed with various items, everything needed to take care of a husky. He sighed, “So, Eggy, our master and servant relationship ends today. I’ll send you away to Song Yingshi, you should follow her back into the city and live a good life. Forget about me ba.”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

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The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: Goodbye, my summer holiday here is over.

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These ex-scrambled eggs and tomatoes are so sweet