Husky’s Side Chapter 27

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Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
Quick. Run.

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Zhou Li stared calmly at the road ahead, accelerating as much as the law allowed him.

His last life had passed by smoothly. Although he would regret some trivial things from time to time, even when it came to the more serious mistakes, he rarely regretted them as much as he regretted his actions that led to this point right now.

He regretted how hesitant he had been.

The plot has gone crooked and the developments from Ji Er’s side were not progressing the way they should have in the original novel. Things were not looking optimistic.

Even though he had clearly guessed Ji Shaoyan might want to reveal his cards on the table, he was constantly worried that if he sent this guy back to Grandpa Ji, the experimental equipment would turn Ji Shaoyan into an idiot. In the end, dragging it out, even just for two days, actually resulted in this outcome.

Only when Ji Shaoyan is near death can he return to his body.

Ji Er didn’t know about this setting and seemed to have no worries. But he’s lived in Ji Shaoyan’s shadow for far too long. To finally hold this person in his palms, instead of abusing Ji Shaoyan to death, this kid might just slowly torture him.

In this case, Ji Shaoyan will either commit suicide after going on a hunger strike or die after getting abused for such a lengthy period——with Ji Shaoyan’s character being almost uncompromising to a fault, in the end, he can only take the second path.

Although Zhou Li had no feelings for Ji Shaoyan as a person, he couldn’t stand it when it came to the soul inside the husky’s body.

This was the husky he had raised for a long time. Although this little husky was always introverted, he still accompanied him in drawing cards, playing games, listening to him sing and tell stories, and was willing to let him hug him in his arms to ruffle his fur. Just the thought of that tiny ball of husky being burned by a cigarette butt, having his small tail cut off, or come into contact with anything violent that could harm his little body sent his heart into a flaming bonfire.

But with many things, regret was useless. And so was anger.

He has never let any negative emotions occupy his brain for too long, so he forcibly suppressed them down into the depths of his mind and continued down the road before he finally saw a familiar car in the distance.

He slowed down appropriately and began to concentrate on what to do next. 

If he was being perfectly honest, there was very little that he can do now. When Ji Er received the message, he will definitely order them send the husky over to him without any delay. Unless he can somehow drag things out with Lin Ye for an hour, the only other option was to follow them secretly and wait for an opportunity to save the dog.

But it’s already been confirmed that this husky was the one they were looking for and Lin Ye also knew about him raising the little puppy for a few days. There was no chance that the man will believe he’s innocent. There was even a lingering fear that Master Lin will find him to resolve their ‘misunderstandings’ immediately.

If it really doesn’t work out, should he first get close to that Zhou Er in the game and return to that rich family before figuring out a way to save the dog?

Zhou Li frowned and kept analysing the pros and cons. After a while, he discovered that the car in front was not driving into the district, but instead onto the highway.

This was a bit strange.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t the goods be handed over to the boss first, then from the boss’ hands over to higher ups? Was the boss not at home, or did the person in the car receive an order to send the goods directly to Ji Er?

Zhou Li drove over while burying himself deep in his thoughts, all whilst following them onto the highway.

Ji Shaoyan already knew the reason why these men had entered the highway.

He had just overheard their phone call and learned that his stupid brother was acting as the host for several guests tonight. The second master and Master Lin were currently driving towards the city in another car. At this moment, they had already driven into the highway from the Hengping District and both parties have arranged to meet at the club. In the end, once he arrived at the club, he will fall into the hands of his stupid brother.

He felt his heart sink.

His brother was an idiot, but there was a high chance he had employed a mastermind to his side. That guy will never make the same mistake again, and he was afraid he will be locked up the moment he arrives. He’s escaped once, but it will be difficult to escape a second time.

As for that silly fool… Once Lin Ye knew he had been cheated, he will be sure to settle accounts with the teenager when he returns.

That idiot should’ve seen him get dognapped back when they were in the neighbourhood and by now his brain had probably come up with some messy speculations. Maybe it would return to his previous, absolutely outlandish theory. Once he finished comforting Song Yingshi, there was a high chance he would’ve planned to take action alone.

He came back to his senses halfway through this thought. Having this much free time made him want to have something to work with*.

[T/N: too bored, he wants to be busy to take his mind off things]

Now that he had no ways of protecting himself, his thoughts were still on the idiot and what the hell he was up to. But no matter how much his thoughts fell on that fool, it was impossible for that idiot to catch up to him.

The ‘idiot’ caught up.

He had come up with a brilliant idea. Holding the steering wheel in one hand and taking out his phone with the other, he called the police. With a choked voice, he shouted, “Help ah, my dog was stolen!” 

The other side paused a second before comforting, “Keep calm and don’t panic, tell us about the specific situation.”

Zhou Li said, “Do you know about that missing-dog post that was trending online today?”

Of course they did.

Because the location of disappearance was in the city, their official accounts online were almost paralyzed the ‘@’ing from netizens. He immediately focused on the call and asked, “We know, what does it have to do with this?”

“It is that dog!” Zhou Li voice cracked with heartbreak. “My little sister had picked him up and we’ve raised him for many days. When we heard about the trending searched today, I wanted to properly separate with our dog and return him to his owner, but then two people came up and beat my little sister just for that prize money and ran off with the dog! Right now, I’m chasing their car from behind, they’ve entered the highway to the main city. Please, I’m begging you guys to stop them!” 

This was far too easy.

The other side had been swept up by his rhythm and was now very concerned. While keeping him on call, the other side contacted the staff stationed at the highway exit and analysed the quickest route for him to arrive on site.

Thus, when the two young men drove off the highway, they were stopped by a police car.

Although totally perplexed, they obediently pulled over then opened the doors and got out of the car. Seeing the police take the husky out of from the side of their car, they were even more perplexed. “What are you doing, this is our dog ah!”

The man comfortingly petted the husky and he said, “Hurry up and drop it ba. You guys are behaving quite righteously for someone who stole another’s dog.”

As soon as this statement was dropped, another car rushed over to their group and stopped nearby.

The groups turned their heads in unison, only to see a young man opening the car door and stepping down.

Zhou Li briefly scanned his eyes across this scene and fixed his gaze on the husky, smiling at him. The teenager was dazzling, just like always. “Eggy, I’m here.”

In this split second, Ji Shaoyan felt as though his eyes had been pricked.

It hurt a little, but he didn’t want to close his eyes.

Along the way, he had reflected on his circumstances and the many outcomes it could lead to, each one worse than the last. But despite all these varying conclusions, he never entertained the thought that Zhou Li would appear in front of him, in an impossible way, at an impossible time.

He dared not to blink as the other walked towards him and, at this very moment, he suddenly understood why he had been so unhappy during these past few days.

Parents, siblings, lovers, friends… People are born into this world, but it is the various relationships formed between others that pushed you to keep living. The world is thriving with life; that’s why people are so fascinated. There were too many fun activities that could easily attract people’s attention. With a small pet, just giving it one or two moments of attention during the buzzing first-days of enjoyment was already pretty good.

Only Zhou Li was not like this.

As long as he was there, no matter when or where, no matter how bad his circumstances were, Zhou Li’s sight and focus will always be on him.

Zhou Li——this second personality was not bound by filial piety and he only arranged peaceful meetings with those little hooligans, like an outsider who suddenly broke into this world. The moment Zhou Li opened his eyes and saw his dying self on the ground, the boy regarded him as his only concern.

It was as if this person belonged entirely to him and to him only.

So ever since Zhou Li gave him away, he has been in a state of unhappiness.

He was unhappy because his possession had gone missing.

The two young men knew that Master Lin had recently found a new plaything and after a careful inspection, realised that this newcomer was the so-called plaything. They remembered how they had seen him and the girl chatting while waiting for the bus and soon understood the entire lead up that ended in this development. “Comrade police, don’t be fooled, this isn’t his dog!”

“They already know, and I have made it extremely clear.” Zhou Li marched over, furious. “We don’t want that money and had planned to return the dog tomorrow. How are we like you, willing to beat up a young lady just for 20,000 yuan! You guys, have you gone insane in the face of money!” 

The two young men angrily retorted, “We don’t want that money either!”

Zhou Li blinked like an idiot. “Acting in cooperation to snatch a little girl’s dog from the streets, if not for the sake of money, is it that you can’t control your hand that urges you to unconsciously perform good deeds? Returning the dog free of charge, do you believe something like this yourself?” 

The young men couldn’t help but curse violently and narrowed their eyes at him, threatening, “Child, we are Master Lin’s men. You may want to think before you say anything else.”

Zhou Li’s expression underwent a complete reversal and he no longer spoke.

The two men were immediately please by his reaction, but before they could speak, the policeman standing to the side keenly asked, “Who’s Master Lin?”

Zhou Li appeared to be indecisive for a few seconds before whispering, “He’s the underground boss in our area.”

“……” The young men yelled, “Fuck, don’t talk nonsense, we are good citizens who abide by the law!”

Zhou Li eyes opened widely and he looked at them blankly and timidly, for fear that these two would subdue him because he let his mouth run loose.

The two young men: “……”

Motherfu… Turn around quickly, don’t look at us!

The policeman couldn’t bear continuing to acting as a witness to this scene and barked, “You two, shut up!”

He noticed that the husky was struggling, pawing in the direction of the boy, so he handed it over.

Zhou Li quickly retrieved Uncle Dog in both arms and thanked the policeman, embracing the dog tightly while stroking his fur.

Ji Shaoyan was swaddled in this familiar scent. He lightly sniffed at the boy’s body and tilted his head up to look at him. Zhou Li caressed his fur again and again, then looked at the policeman.

Case closed. This matter wasn’t a major event.

The policeman escorted the two men into his car with the intention of taking them back to the station to update their arrest records.

Zhou Li must not go with them.

These two probably kept constant contact with Lin Ye and the others. The time he spends providing a transcript of this incident was long enough for Ji Er and them to surround him. There will be nowhere to run.

He pretended to be very apprehensive about being in the same space as the men and was unwilling to get in the police car. He said, “Can I first return the dog to his owner before heading over?” 

The policeman said, “We can help you contact the owner.”

Zhou Li shook his head wildly, still unwilling.

The policeman put all his persuasion techniques at work but found that they were useless when it came to this boy, so he could only let things go.

Because he was classified as the victim in this scenario, the obligation to testify and the right to refuse was his decision to choose. If he didn’t wish to be held accountable, he doesn’t actually need to record a transcript, and it wasn’t as if they were allowed to forcibly drag the victim with them to the station. Just looking at this boy, it was easy to know that he probably didn’t want any responsibilities in this case.

Zhou Li secretly exhaled a sigh of relief and thanked him profusely. With Uncle Dog safely snuggled in his arms, he climbed into the car and they left the scene together. 

Ji Shaoyan sat in the passenger seat, looking up at him and wanting to know where they could go.

The other side has already been informed of everything that happened. Lin Ye alone can make Zhou Li suffer from the consequences of his actions*. Besides, as the man always said, the monk can run away, but the temple won’t run with him*. They drove along the road for a while.

[T/N: literally, ‘if you can’t eat it all, you’ll have to take it home’, meaning you’ll have to deal with the consequences]
[T/N: you can run this time, but you’ll have to come back/I’ll get you sooner or later]

The most important point was that even if he was returned to his “owner”, Zhou Li will still be trapped. He offended Master Lin and what was awaiting him in the future was something neither of them could take guess at. This guy wasn’t an idiot. He was never an idiot. It was impossible to lose sight of the situation.

So why did you come chasing after me? Are you stupid?

Ji Shaoyan glanced at him, then leaned over and pulled at the boy’s trouser pockets.

Zhou Li touched his head briefly and pulled out the phone from his pocket, throwing it to him before returning his attention to the road. 

Ji Shaoyan retracted his paws and began to mess around with the phone.

However, as a dog, fiddling with the computer keyboard was already a very strenuous task, let alone such a small phone screen. After tapping around for a long while, he finally managed to pull up the notes app.

There was a sudden ringing. Someone was calling.

Two words were displayed on the caller ID: Master Lin.

Ji Shaoyan took a glimpse at Silly Fool.

Zhou Li couldn’t reach the phone sitting in the passenger seat, so he didn’t bother sparing it a single look. As he observed the buildings on both sides of the road, he continued driving forward. 

Right now, the only thing he needed was an internet café for him and Uncle Dog to lie low in. Once this young master reveals his status as a human being and contacts Grandpa Ji, as long as Grandpa Ji intervenes, they will be safe.

The phone rang for a long time before it cut off automatically.

A few seconds later, it sounded crazily again, and when that call was forcibly stopped, it sounded again. The phone went through four or five continuous cycles of ringing before it completely died down.

Zhou Li steadily watched their front for a while until he came across a university campus. He immediately turned in.

Probably because the school term hasn’t started yet, there weren’t many vehicles or pedestrians on the road.

He was looking for an Internet cafe when all of a sudden, a car swerved into view through the rear-view mirror. That car had stepped down on the accelerator so intensely that it shortened the distance between their vehicles in a blink of an eye. Without a reason, his heart began to jump incessantly, and he couldn’t help but step down on the accelerator as well. When passing an intersection, he noticed the car ignoring the red light. The unknown premonition became heavier, and he accelerated once more.

Two cars drove through four intersections one after another in the university campus. They were now approaching the fifth.

Zhou Li had long abandoned every law regarding red lights. Just as he was about to continue running the oncoming traffic light, he suddenly saw a land-rover coming in from the left and abruptly stomped down on the breaks, slightly turning the steering wheel to avoid impact. 

The next second, he saw that the other party had also turned by a few degrees. They were driving right into him.

His pupils contracted in an instant and he jumped on the breaks again. For a split-second, all his senses sharpened to the extreme. The car hastily drifted in a small arc, dangerously avoiding the wrecked mess the car’s hood would have otherwise ended in. The swerve directly sent the tires on one side into the curb.

He never got the time to set himself back onto the road. That car that had been relentlessly chasing him all this way took advantage of his panic and swiftly overtook him, sharply turning with a harsh “screech” and blocking his escape.

Immediately after this obstacle had been set in place, the car’s door opened. Lin Ye stepped out of the car, face unsettlingly calm. He looked up in his direction.

It’s over.

Zhou Li’s heart sank. He swivelled around, seeing how the land-rover had also blocked him on the street path. He understood that there was nowhere left to run.

Ji Shaoyan had rolled off the seat from inertia just now. At this time, he noticed that their car had stopped, so he jumped around the gear shift and onto the boy’s lap, leaning out the window to look outside. 

When he processed who the person walking over was and the situation they were in, his heart sank along with Zhou Li’s. He realised that right now, they had stepped on the road leading to death.

Zhou Li thoughts madly flitted through his brain like lightning. Before the other side could yank himself out, he acknowledged how screwed he was in this current situation and took the initiative to climb out himself with the husky in his arms. He thought to himself that if things were looking too far south with no return, he will put the husky on the ground to let him run away by himself.

He looked at the man in front of him and opened with a dry smile, “Lucky seeing you here ah, Master Lin.”

Lin Ye smiled. The smile did not show in his eyes. “As luck would have it, I just got off the highway. Just to chase you, I had to run through several red lights and even scrapped the cars of two others. Are you proud, baby?”

Zhou Li understood the moment these words fell.

Hengping District was far from the city. Obviously, Lin Ye must have some business to attend for him to come here. He had driven onto the highway first, so when those two men went onto the highway and reached the exit on the other side, Lin Ye would have just about reached his destination here.

He mentally mourned his horrible luck but said outwardly, “I can explain.”

Lin Ye generously nodded. “Please do.”

Zhou Li said, “I admit that I’ve known this was the dog a long time ago, but after raising it for several days, I grew emotionally attached. I thought that I could just return him after the summer holidays are over, so I pulled a little prank on you.”

Lin Ye smiled and repeated, “Oh, little prank?”

Zhou Li immediately added, “I was rebellious. I was wrong, I sincerely admit I was wrong.”

Lin Ye stared at him. His gentle tone carried the faintest hint of tyranny. “Admitting your wrongdoings is not enough. You need to be punished.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Zhou Li continued, “Then…is it possible for you to lend me another half an hour? I will make a video call, give my little sister and our husky a moment of farewell, is that okay?”

Lin Ye continued to smile. There was still no smile in his eyes.

This was just a plaything to relieve his boredom. He can coax it when he is happy, and he naturally won’t let it off when he is unhappy.

Zhou Li looked at his expression and knew it was useless.

At this time, the people in the truck also got off.

Er Ye only brought Lin Ye to the banquet today. There were two cars in total, one for him and Lin Ye, and another vehicle for the helping little brothers. After they received updates on the situation, Lin Ye decided to chase after him. Fearing that something might happen on the road, he left Er Ye and their driver on the side of the road and brought the little helping brothers along.

There weren’t many of his underlings. Including the driver of the truck, there were only four. 

These thugs were probably used for extortion. They came out the truck with weapons in their hands and didn’t hesitate to surround him.

Zhou Li could see that things weren’t looking optimistic with one glance. Just when he wanted to set the dog free, Lin Ye stepped forward and clasped his hand, saying with a smile, “Still not giving it to me, do you want me to invite you personally, or do you still want to come up with your little ideas?”

Ji Shaoyan lifted his eyelids slightly, and with the extra boost from Silly Fool’s arms, leaped out towards him.

Lin Ye’s attention was entirely on this child in front of him so he could hardly see the thing that was happening. He only saw a black shadow flashing over, followed by a burning pain in his neck.

Zhou Li: “!!!”

The underlings: “!!!”

Ji Shaoyan had already finished analysing their situation within this period of time and came to a conclusion: they had no way out.

Once he is taken back, there is a high probability that his little brother will keep him under tight guard all the time. Now was the only opportunity to get close to Lin Ye. He can not let this opportunity slip between his hands.

During these days, he spent half the time finding Silly Fool unpleasant while the other half was wasted on despising the teenager.

There were only a handful of times that he treated Silly Fool well, but he was afraid there will be no other chances in the future. Besides, with this one extra step, he can at least forcibly put an end to Lin Ye’s ideas about beating Silly Fool, which isn’t bad at all.

So in this short time of physical contact, he opened his fangs and Lin Ye fell to the ground with a howl. He fell to the concrete shortly after and saw the underlings rushing over. It wasn’t enough. With all the energy he could muster in his body, he brutally tore off a piece flesh and spat it out to the side. Looking coldly at the bloody waterfall pouring out from the man’s neck, his heart felt delighted.

Zhou Li: “……”

Fuck!

He regained his senses in an instant and screamed, “Quick! Run!“

The one who should be quickly running is you. Are you stupid? Why don’t you take advantage of this chaos?

Ji Shaoyan looked at him and was about to step in his direction when the little underlings clammered over.

The crowd was made of red eyes.

One of the men had a fiery temper, and immediately threw the request of “bring back the dog intact” out the window. He grabbed the animal, then swung down his bat. “Beast, you fucker!”

Zhou Li’s heart skipped a beat.

In the future, he would think about this moment in time and feel that his actions were unnecessary. Once Young Master Ji is seriously injured, he will return to his original body. In fact, he only needed to watch as this murder was carried out. But with many things in the world, acting based on intellect was one thing, letting your emotions run wild was another.

At this time, there was nothing running through his mind. His body took ownership of his actions and led him towards the violence, where he ducked down to protect his husky. 

The next second, he felt an indescribable weight and heard a “thunk” that echoed through his head. And then everything before his eyes went dark as he sunk into unconsciousness.

Ji Shaoyan suddenly raised his head. He saw Zhou Li lying on the ground, with blood dripping down his head and leaving a trail running alongside the rim of his ear, eventually leaving the skin and falling onto the hard ground.

The man missed his first hit. He smashed down the weapon for the second time.

Ji Shaoyan was still staring at Zhou Li when his body was whacked three metres away due to the impact from the swing. The first thought that came to his heart was: so this is how much it hurts.

He felt blood flow in his eyes as he struggled to adjust the energy in his limbs. He wanted to climb over.

At this time, one of the more sensible underlings returned to his senses, remembering the importance this dog had with their second master. He quickly blocked the rest of his companion’s advances and ran forward to pick the dog up.

He watched as the distance between him and Zhou Li grew farther and farther, and closed his eyes feebly.

His consciousness drifted up and down. He didn’t know how long it was drifting for, nor where it was drifting to. Then he suddenly saw a light, followed by a ticking sound that gradually grew clearer, ending in a sound that quickly banged on his eardrums.

He opened his eyes abruptly. A dazzling white light flashed at him, so he closed and opened them again, finding himself in a ward with several doctors and nurses standing in front of him.

He was entirely stunned for a second but rapidly came to his senses. Ripping out the messy needles and tubes on his body, he rolled over and swung himself out of the bed. However, his feet softened and his knees severely knocked against the hard floor.

The doctors and nurses were all scared out of their minds and quickly supported him back to the bed.

Ji Shaoyan had just regained consciousness and was extremely weak everywhere in his body. His voice was so small that he couldn’t even hear himself. He hoarsely yelled, “Get off!” 

The doctors pressed him down for a long time but to no avail, so they had to resort to using extraordinary measures.

Grandpa Ji had just made his way to the ground floor but the instant he received news of his grandson’s awakening, he rushed back into the ward at a blinding speed. What he was met with was the sight of his persistently struggling grandson, whose face that has always been gentle twisting into a hideous appearance.

He inhaled a deep breath and ran to the bedside. “A-Yan, A-Yan, it’s me, it’s okay, look at me.” 

The anaesthetics began to do their job and the patient’s already weak consciousness slackened further.

Ji Shaoyan stared at the white light above his head, battling the urge to sleep.

Zhou Li…

Zhou Li……

Five convulsive fingers finally let go, and he slowly sank into the abyss of unconsciousness.

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The author has something to say:

Ahhhhh, sorry to have slept in orz

Also don’t ask me why that piece of husky fur is not shaved or dyed, please refer to Chapter 23 and Chapter 26, it is very clear that the mark is a birthmark on the paw, it has nothing to do with the fur. Also don’t ask me why the husky’s entire body wasn’t shaved or dyed. You know that Zhou Li goes out hugging the husky every day. Now that the missing-dog poster is stuck up all over the streets, providing clues gives a reward of 5,000, even if the husky is fitted with bunny ears he will be found, so it is better to directly target the black spots.

Zhou Li’s thoughts are not wrong, but they can’t hold up against other people’s showy operations, right, Ji Er?

Ji Er: [Coldly smoking a cigarette] Don’t worship Ge, Ge is just a legend.

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This is the most dramatic this novel will be (in my opinion) so don’t worry. Our Silly Fool Zhou Li will be fine! After all, his body is the target of many beatings, he should be used to it by now (･ω<)☆