Husky’s Side Chapter 21

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Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
Posters

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Zhou Li and Song Yingshi agreed to meet up in the neighbourhood, at the fork in the road where they usually split up after coming back from work.  

When it came to gifting away the dog, Zhou Li had already told Song Yingshi his reasons for choosing her through WeChat in the afternoon, saying that except for her, everyone else he knew were not entirely reliable, so he hoped she could adopt the husky.

Song Yingshi was pleasantly surprised by his proposal and agreed without hesitation, but she didn’t expect that after only one day of not seeing each other, Zhou Li would turn out like this. There were bruises that decorated the corners of his eyes and mouth and they were obviously the results of a beating.

She finally understood why he was in such a hurry to send away the dog, eyebrows pinching together as she asked, “Your dad hit you?”

Zhou Li helplessly nodded.

Song Yingshi cheeks puffed up with anger and she straightforwardly commented, “You can’t go on like this. Even if he is your dad, he can’t always beat you ah. You need to find a solution, and if that doesn’t work then you should just move out.”  

As she said this, she seemed to come up with an idea. Her eyes lit up. “If you don’t have money for rent, you can just live in my house. Granny and I will go back after the holiday ends, so there’ll be no one at home.”

Zhou Li said, “He decided to go see a doctor. I’ll stay to observe for a while ba.”

When he completes this task, he will no longer have to take care of a husky. He can finally live more casually.

It’s just that one, he agreed to accompany Qian Duoshu to see a doctor to get their ‘illnesses’ check out, and two, he had to think about how to deal with Lin Ye. In addition to those, he only had to wait two more weeks to know if a certain wealthy family would come kocking at his door, so he was too lazy to toss himself around for the time being.

Song Yingshi didn’t know of the twists and turns his mind had come up with and visibly relaxed when she heard his reassurance. She urged, “Then, if you need help, remember that you can find me anytime.”

Zhou Li responded with a smile and handed the husky in his arms over to her.

Song Yingshi reached out and wrapped the dog in her embrace, affectionately stroking the fur and evidently estatic. “Happy, from now on, I will be your mother!”

Ji Shaoyan turned a deaf ear, quietly staring at Silly Fool.

Judging from the tone this guy used when he previously said his farewells, it turned out that this silly fool really didn’t want to use him pick up girls and genuinely just wanted to find him a new owner. Just as he originally promised.

He can finally rid himself of this insane father and son duo and get the opportunity to return to the city.

This was what he had been looking forward to all this time. He should be happy, but for some reason, at this moment, he was unable to feel the slightest hint of joy.

Zhou Li controlled his own expression, pretending not to hear that ‘mother’.

Anyway, when she gets home, Granny Song will change her title to ‘jiejie’*, so thankfully Young Master Ji will not suffer with this addressment. He met this young master’s gaze and, in the end, chose to ruffle the other’s fur. Then he passed Song Yingshi the pre-prepared bag. “Here, these are all his things.”

[T/N: older sister]

Song Yingshi briefly glanced over the contents and noticed the palm-sized potted plant. She asked, “This flower is also his?”

Zhou Li said, “En, a real one and a fake one, it’s to help adjust his mood. Absolutely do not put a battery in the fake one, just leave it as decoration. He knows how to play with this husky head toy, so both of you can play together. Also, you need to brush his teeth in the morning and at night. I gave him bath yesterday, you should give him one in about a week from now. For these few days, just wipe his paws and fur with a wet towel and it’ll be fine. Oh, and I went to give him a shot today, there’s still two more rounds he needs to get…” 

He went on a rant detailing on how to deal with any matter, regardless of its importance, and more the more spoke the harder it was to stop. He was too scared that his family’s husky would suffer in a new environment. 

In the end, after he went through a checklist, he added, “I have never fed him dog food so he might not be used to it. Just feed him whatever your family usually eats but be careful it’s nothing too salty. You can occasionally feed him some pieces of fruit. He likes to eat fresh food; maybe because his sense of smell is too sensitive, but if it’s something that someone has taken even just a single tiny bite out of it, he’ll refuse to eat.”

Song Yingshi replied, “Oh, but I’ve heard that it’s still best for dogs to eat dog food ya.”

 Zhou Li just smiled, finding it too hard to try and persuade her.

There was already a small section dedicated to this problem in the original text. Song Yingshi also bought dog food in the beginning, but the young master refused to eat it, so she eventually switched him over to normal human food. There was no need for him to worry about it.

Song Yingshi went through every single instruction he gave her one more time and asked, “Anything else?”

Zhou Li said, “En… He doesn’t like sleeping in a box. I just let him sleep in my bed.”

Eggy, I can only help you up to here.

The environment over at Song Yingshi’s house was much more harmonious than the one at his. There was no fear of getting beaten if he wanted sleep in the living room. In the original novel, Ji Shaoyan had slept on the sofa in the living room, so if Song Yingshi listened to his words, would she let the dog sleep on her own bed? It all depends on the protagonist’s luck. 

Song Yingshi was deeply moved. “You treat it so kindly.”

Zhou Li sighed. “It’s a pity that I can’t keep him.”

Song Yingshi looked over the wounds on his face and thought about his special situation. It really was quite a pity.

She said, “Then, you can just text me on WeChat whenever you want to see it, I’ll bring it out for you.”

Zhou Li said, “No need, I’m afraid he’ll depend on me too much and will be unable to forget about me.”  

Actually, if it was just a quiet and well-behaved husky, then he would still be willing to meet up. The one living in the dog was a certain uncle. After so many hurdles, he was finally able to create this two-person world for them, so how could he crash in to act as a lightbulb? Has he decided he’s already lived a long-enough life?

He reluctantly gave one more look at this fluffy ball of husky and painfully said his goodbyes, a farewell that he meant with his most sincere feelings. 

Song Yingshi saw that he wasn’t walking in the direction of his house and couldn’t help but call out,  “Where are you going?”

Zhou Li said, “Going to buy some ingredients. I need to go home and cook.”

Song Yingshi suddenly felt that his life really wasn’t easy-going.

Not only was he not allowed to keep pets, but after being beaten by a domestically violent father, he was forced to cook for the man every day. She let out a faint sigh and saw the husky staring after the boy who left. She softly touched its head. “Okay, let’s go back ba.”

Ji Shaoyan slowly retracted his gaze and closed his eyes, lying still in her arms.

The market was on again today. Zhou Li could hear the bustling noises of shoppers before he even left the gates of his neighbourhood.

He glanced at the time and saw that Qian Duoshu was coming back soon. Too lazy to cook, he decided to go in to buy some cold side dishes. However, the moment he stepped foot in the market,  but as soon as he entered the market, he was handed a flyer.

He reached out to take it. It was a pet competition advertisement.

He immediately thought back to the flyer he took when they were walking around the commercial district. The slip of paper had been stored in his pockets and he never took it out when changing clothes last night. He forgot to give it to Song Yingshi and never expected to be on the receiving end of another one. 

He scanned the handout and vaguely felt that something was wrong. Before he was able to sort out his thoughts, the sudden crisp sounds of ringing bells interrupted him. He took out his phone and saw that Qian Duoshu was calling him. He answered, “Wei?”

Qian Duoshu’s tone was a little more cautious than usual. “Where are you?”

Zhou Li said, “Market, just wanted to buy some side dishes.”

Qian Duoshu breathed a sigh of relief and lightly replied, “Oh, then good, you can buy some ba.” 

Zhou Li was a little baffled so he went home straight after buying the side dishes.

Only when Qian Duoshu saw him enter through the door did the big stone in his heart finally fall.

Today, he came back today to a house that was surprisingly clean and tidy, with all the dog supplies in his son’s bedroom missing. This made him think that his son had wanted to clean up the house one last time so he could run away with the dog.

He asked, “Where’s the dog?”

Zhou Li said, “Sent him away.”

Qian Duoshu replied with an “oh” and turned his focus to the living room, praising, “You did a big clean-up today, it’s basically spotless.”

Zhou Li answered with a simple hum.

Actually, it was all the little brothers who were afraid that messing up the house would lead to Qian Duoshu throwing the blame on him. Before leaving, they had all hands on deck and went through the entire house, wiping and washing the furniture and floors until they visibly sparkled, then leaving when a large pile of rubbish in tow. 

But many of their fights so far had involvement of the little brothers, so although there was a high possibility Qian Duoshu hunting for answers, the less the answers, the better. He chose not to give out any explanations and went to the kitchen to pour the dishes onto a large plate, taking it to the table to eat.

The plastic father and son pairing ate their meal as usual.

After the meal, Zhou Li took a shower and laid on the bed to become a salted fish*.

[T/N: someone with no ambition and doesn’t want to do anything]

There was no need to gain any favours, nor a husky he had to pay attention to all the time. He was finally free.

However, once something that had been built up to become a habit suddenly comes to a stop, it made people had a constant feeling that something is missing. There was no motivation to do anything.

Qian Duoshu originally planned to pass time by watching TV, but noticed that there was no movement in his son’s room for a long time and couldn’t help but take a peek. He saw the teenager lying motionlessly on his bed, limbs spread out like “大”. He asked, “What are you doing?”

Zhou Li said, “Feeling lonely.” 

In the past, if he wasn’t petting the husky, then he was petting the husky. But how the husky was gone. While his mind was wandering in a distance place, he said, “There will always be joy and there will always be sorrow, just as the moon waxes and wanes. These sorts of things cannot be helped*.”

[T/N: 水调歌头, poem by Su Shi (苏轼), written in 1076. Translated by user Jeff on italki. There are many other English translations]

“……” Qian Duoshu said, “How much does that breed of dog cost, how about I buy you one?”

Zhou Li refused without even entertaining the idea.

He just gave away Uncle Dog away on the grounds that his environment was “not suitable for raising a dog”. If he went back on his words and goes on to raise another dog, if this knowledge reaches Uncle Dog, who knew what that young master would think of him. 

He said in a dead-serious manner, “I still have to work hard to enter university. Raising a dog will just delay my studies. Don’t mind me, I’ll do things at my own pace.”

Qian Duoshu speechlessly looked at him, then ignored him.

Zhou Li acted as a salted fish for a while but was soon forced to sit up by the notifications from WeChat.  

He saw Xiao Wu share a photo in the group chat. It was of a utility pole in his village, with a missing-dog poster stuck onto the pole. He @ed Ying-ge, asking: Is this your family’s Eggy?

Er-ge also made a fuss: Ai, I also saw one today, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. So it turns out to be our Eggy?

The stingy brother followed shortly after: Fuck, a reward of 20,000!

He then frantically @ed Ying-ge: Hurry hurry hurry, see if there are black spots on Eggy’s paws!

Zhou Li’s heart jumped.

He kneaded Eggy’s paws everyday, so of course he knew that there was a black spot. What’s more, he’s read this novel before and knew that Ji Shaoyan had escaped from a hospital. He was certain this picture was taken from the hospital’s footage.

He speedily typed: Lao-er*, where did you see it?

[T/N: literally, Old Two (Old being a term of respect])

Er-ge: Just somewhere around our neighbourhood.

Zhou Li suddenly frowned: Come out, take me there.

He briskly changed his clothes and told Qian Duoshu about his whereabouts, then went downstairs to meet up with Er-ge. They quickly found the missing-dog poster.

It was stuck onto a pole sitting between the old and new apartments. Because there was a leisure park in the middle of the new complex, many people living in the old community liked to pass through the park. With the flyer posted in this area, it would have a wide coverage.

Er-ge said, “Did you read what Xiao Wu just sent?”

Zhou Li said, “Not yet, what did he send?” 

Er-ge said, “He said that when he turns around, every second utility pole had these flyers stuck to it. This is Eggy, isn’t it?”

Zhou Li’s attitude was already this obvious, so he confessed, “Yes.”

After a pause, he said, “I just gave him away to Song Yingshi. “

Er-ge froze. “Huh?”

He hastily pulled this new information apart. “This… If she finds out that the gift you gave her was someone’s missing dog, won’t she be angry? How do we tell her?”

“Let me think about this first, tell Xiao Wu and the others to not run their mouths off. They can’t say even a single word about this to anyone.” Zhou Li paused and specially added, “Brother, my happiness for the rest of my life all depends on this, do you understand?” 

Er-ge’s loyal spirit instantly surged and he slapped his own chest in reassurance. “Don’t worry ba, Ying-ge, we definitely won’t say anything!”

Zhou Li gave him an “en” and tore apart the missing-dog poster, then turned around to go elsewhere.  

He finally realised what was wrong with these flyers.

In the original text, Song Yingshi learned of the pet competition through her circle of friends online. Although he didn’t know whether the organiser issued the flyers for the event or not, this competition was held in an urban area. The organisers could simply distribute a round of flyers in the commercial district and have a wider reach, there was no need to come to their tiny rural corner to gain public interest. They chose to come here, which was not normal.

The most important thing was that Song Yingshi will take the husky out for a walk almost every day. One of her frequent walking routes was the park in the new complex, so he was very sure that the novel never mentioned anything about missing-dog posters. 

These two points came together and revealed that something had gone wrong with the plot. 

Ever since Zhou Li transmigrated, he had to mentally remind himself constantly to not rely too much on the novel’s plot as there were many opportunities for the butterfly wings to change the course of events. It’s just that he didn’t expect the wings to directly skip over a certain wealthy family to hit Ji Shaoyan first. 

But whoever it was shouldn’t be another transmigrator who had read the book, otherwise it would’ve been fine for them to knock on their doors without going through so much effort. Right now, he had no idea what was going on with the Ji family. What would Ji Shaoyan think if he came across this news?

At this moment, the Young Master Ji who he was thinking about was lying on the sofa in Song Yingshi’s house.

The vaccine’s side effects were quite strong and he had fallen into a deep sleep the moment they arrived. When he opened his eyes, he saw Song Yingshi enter the door with big and small bags in her arms, smiling as she knelt down before him.

“Awake la? I went to the pet shop and got you a bunch of things.” Song Yingshi cheerfully opened the bag. “You will absolutely love these!”

Ji Shaoyan squinted at the contents.

Dog leash, dog food, canned dog food, dog toys, a small bell for hanging around the neck… Like hell I’d like these.

He gave her a “looking at the mentally disabled” glance and stood up to increase the distance between them by two meters, waddling all the way over to the other side of the sofa to lay down again.

Song Yingshi: “……”

Ying*, there seemed to be a particularly strong feeling of rejection.

[T/N: crying sound]

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The author has something to say:

Song Yingshi: Happy, so meng but so hot-tempered, this must be an illusion QAQ

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《水调歌头/Water Melody》by 苏轼/Su Shi (my version of translation)

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

We have our sorrows and joys, our parting and reunions,
Just as the moon has her phases of brightness, her waxing and waning;
Since ancient times, nothing has ever been perfect.
Yet, we pray for longevity,
So that however many thousand miles we are apart,
We will sit beneath the same enchanting moonlight.

There is a few verses before this one (the last verse), but since Zhou Li only quoted the last part, that’s what I translated too. The meaning is, even though what we experience with our loved ones may not be the same as what we hoped for, we still hold on to that hope and keep going forward, since there may be the smallest chance that we will see each other again.