Lu Chenghe, dealing with a small dog shelter like this, didn’t even require the effort to crush an ant. He merely notified his assistant, Qi Wei, about it in the evening, and the rest of the matter naturally didn’t require his concern.
As Lu Chenghe’s assistant, Qi Wei wouldn’t have been able to hold his position without some skill and acumen. Making the dog shelter disappear overnight was merely a phone call away, but he didn’t do it because that would be too easy.
Qi Wei himself had a Border Collie, which had been intelligent and adorable since it was young and had always been his cherished pet. Compared to Lu Chenghe, who kept dogs rationally, Qi Wei was a true dog lover and an eligible “dog slave”. His Weibo, despite the title of Lu’s assistant, was filled with content about his own dog, earning him countless mockeries from netizens. He was a pet blogger hindered only by his competence. Clearly, he could have leveraged his dog’s cuteness, yet he chose to work hard using his abilities.
So when Lu Chenghe sent him a message late at night, and Qi Wei investigated and found evidence, he was so furious with the unscrupulous dog shelter that he didn’t sleep a wink. Instead of resolving the issue quietly, he deliberately escalated it, wanting the dog shelter to experience the public’s backlash.
As Lu Chenghe’s assistant, Qi Wei had quite a following on Weibo. Due to his position, many major accounts had set special notifications for him, so as soon as he posted an update, they were alerted. When Qi Wei exposed the dog shelter on his Weibo, not only did night-owl pet bloggers retweet it, but several social influencers did, too. By the next day, it had already become the hottest trending topic, even overshadowing a prominent singer’s release of a new song.
The news article showed screenshots from traffic surveillance cameras capturing the route from the dog shelter to a black-market slaughterhouse. The photos inside the slaughterhouse were likely taken secretly at night, with a dark background and the focus highlighted by a flash. The piles of dead dogs looked even more horrifying, utterly inhumane. Some photos showed skinned dogs hanging, with heaps of dog skins on the ground. Even those who didn’t care for cats or dogs found it extremely brutal.
The article also exposed that the dog shelter, Love Pet House, operated under the guise of a charity rescuing stray dogs. It accepts stray dogs from kindhearted people and selects young, good-looking, and physically intact dogs for treatment and adoption appeals.
However, severely ill, physically defective, or elderly dogs, which received little attention after being sent there, were poisoned and sent to unlicensed slaughterhouses for skinning and meat extraction. The dog shelter used a synthetic toxin that killed the dogs through inhalation, leaving minimal residue in their bodies. This method preserved the integrity of the dog skins and avoided creating a bloody scene at the dog shelter.
After accumulating a batch of stray dogs, the dog shelter would transport them to the slaughterhouse. Although the dogs were sold cheaply, this was a long-term business. As the dog shelter’s reputation grew, its secret transactions became increasingly profitable.
The dog shelter’s actions were described as utterly insane. Many people followed the news link to the shelter’s Weibo account and found it had almost entirely positive reviews. In a society filled with “week dogs”, this dog shelter, which did things right and sold good dogs, was seen as a breath of fresh air and was highly praised by dog lovers.
Who could have imagined that the dog shelter owner, praised by netizens for being genuine, was even more heartless and cruel than those week dog traders!
【I can’t believe this is true. I bought my dog, Niuniu, from this shelter because many people recommended it. I observed for a long time, and the shelter sold healthy dogs. I even drove there to pick up the dog myself. Now, knowing the truth behind it, I feel a chill down my spine.】
【This is truly terrifying. If it weren’t for solid evidence, who would have thought that this dog shelter had such a dark side? These people will face retribution sooner or later!】
【I’ve never seen anything like this. I couldn’t afford to keep a dog, so I followed this dog shelter online. I never imagined they were so heartless. Who knows how many innocent dogs died at their hands? If it weren’t so far away, I’d drive there and smash the shelter to vent my anger!】
【Damn, I’m so angry. Aren’t these dog shelter people afraid of karma? They’ll face retribution sooner or later! I curse them all to die a miserable death!】
【If it weren’t for a verified account exposing this, with such solid evidence, I wouldn’t believe it. Last week, I volunteered at this kennel and was so happy to see the stray dogs finding a home. I even said that although they were abandoned by their original owners, they would have a stable life here. Now, thinking about it, I’m in tears. They would have been better off wandering outside!】
【I had long suspected something was wrong. I even witnessed it once and got beaten up. My family was threatened. Without power or influence, I could only warn my friends not to trust this shelter. Now that it’s exposed, I can finally stop worrying about it. Someone has finally done a great thing!】
【Wu wu wu… I found a dog, but my family wouldn’t let me keep it, so I sent it to this dog shelter. I would visit once a week and buy some dog food, hoping the shelter would treat the dog well. Recently, the dog shelter staff said the dog had been adopted. Although I was a bit disappointed, I hoped the dog would have a loving owner for the rest of its life. Now, I’m unsure if the dog is still alive. If it’s not, I wonder if it hates me for sending it there. Wu wu wu…】
Although the dog shelter staff used Weibo to manage their reputation, they didn’t monitor it constantly. When they woke up that morning, fed the puppies to be sold, and gave cheap food to the stray dogs, they logged into Weibo as usual. They found their dog shelter had been named and shamed, with screenshots as evidence. The staff panicked and immediately went to the owner.
The owner assumed the issue was related to the students from the previous night and ground his teeth in anger. He hadn’t anticipated that these students could access traffic surveillance system screenshots and even reach the slaughterhouse.
Though it wasn’t the first time they were discovered, warnings and threats had kept people silent. Their shelter’s reputation was well-established. Even if a few dared to speak the truth, they had enough supporters who thought those individuals were just jealous and hired trolls.
Now, however, a major verified account had exposed them. Compared to their niche popularity in Qingniao City, the entire Weibo community was ready to condemn them. Even if it were false, it would be believed true. But these matters were indeed true, and they couldn’t justify themselves.
While the owner hurriedly thought of a plan, the sound of chaos came from the entrance.
After a dreamless night until dawn, Zuo Ning accompanied Lu Chenghe on their usual morning run. After finishing his dog food, he was forcibly given an egg yolk and then snatched half a slice of bacon from Lu Chenghe’s mouth, wagging his tail smugly as Lu Chenghe glared at him.
Because of the previous night’s incident, Lu Chenghe didn’t take him to the company yesterday, leaving him at home for the day. Fortunately, Mother Lu was also worried about him not feeling well, so she didn’t come to take him out. But now he felt completely fine and had been lively and playful with Lu Chenghe last night. Fearing that Mother Lu would come and say she wanted to take him out to play, he quickly followed Lu Chenghe and clung to his leg when he saw him leaving.
Looking at the little Pudding wagging his tail with his butt sticking out, Lu Chenghe stared down at him, “You just stole my breakfast.”
Zuo Ning tilted his head. “?”
Lu Chenghe: “So, I’m not full.”
Zuo Ning: “???”
Lu Chenghe pried his paws off one by one. “Because I’m not full, I can’t carry you, so I can’t take you to work.”
The butler, who was seeing Lu Chenghe off, silently lowered his head. It was rare to hear the young master tell a cold joke in his lifetime. So, should he pretend he didn’t hear it or give a face-saving laugh? Forget it. Since the cold joke was directed at the dog, he decided to act like he didn’t hear it.
Zuo Ning couldn’t bear it anymore: “Woof!” You’re not the Lu Chenghe I know anymore!
Seeing Lu Chenghe prying his paws off and getting into the car, Zuo Ning hurriedly rushed over, with half of his body hanging on the car’s footrest, looking up at Lu Chenghe: “Woof woof!” Take me with you, take me with you.
Lu Chenghe slightly tilted his head and looked at Zuo Ning, who was half hanging inside the car, with his two legs dangling in mid-air. He remarked, “Your legs are really short.”
Zuo Ning gave a push with his hind legs and easily got into the car. He skillfully climbed into the back seat and pounced on Lu Chenghe, barking, “Woof woof woof!” My legs aren’t short at all—they are longer than a Corgi’s!
The driver saw that the boss had closed the car door without any intention of kicking the dog out, so he stepped on the accelerator. He couldn’t believe that the usually cold and distant boss had started bringing his dog to work.
Upon arriving at the office, Zuo Ning headed straight to his little room. Lu Chenghe took off his coat, came in to put fresh water in the dog’s bowl, and turned on a TV series on the tablet. Seeing that Zuo Ning was obediently lying on his bed, ready to watch the show, Lu Chenghe gently closed the room door.
Once Lu Chenghe started working, Zuo Ning jumped off the bed, carefully peeked through the door crack, and then turned to open the fridge. The empty juice bottle was no longer there, and Lu Chenghe hadn’t mentioned it these past few days. Zuo Ning smiled with satisfaction.
He knew someone must have been handling these domestic chores for Lu Chenghe. It wasn’t like the boss would personally clean out a small fridge. The empty drink bottle had definitely been taken care of by someone else. The thought of being able to grab snacks every day made Zuo Ning find going to work much more interesting.
After dealing with some official business, Qi Wei knocked and entered. Seeing Qi Wei, Lu Chenghe remembered the task he had given him the previous night and asked, “How did the matter get resolved?”
Hearing Lu Chenghe speaking, Zuo Ning hurriedly jumped out of bed and carefully pressed his ear to the door.
Qi Wei said, “The matter has been exposed. That dog shelter will no longer have a place in Qingniao City. Some people have already filed a joint lawsuit, and this morning, people gathered to transfer all the stray dogs from the dog shelter. However, the puppies raised by the dog shelter are considered private property, but they have been seized by some overly emotional dog lovers.”
Lu Chenghe frowned at these words, and Qi Wei continued, “There were some physical conflicts during the process. The dog shelter owner and employees sustained varying degrees of injuries. The shelter was smashed, but since it was located in a remote area with no surveillance cameras, by the time the police arrived after receiving the report, the troublemakers had already left. Even if the shelter owner wanted to sue those people, the case would be hard to win. However, the dog shelter owner and employees have been criminally detained. With this kind of social outcry, the sentencing will likely be severe. Unfortunately, there is no clear protection law for stray dogs, so the final charges will be based on food safety violations.”
Lu Chenghe nodded, indicating that the matter was concluded since the dog shelter issue was resolved. Just as he was about to let Qi Wei continue with his work, Qi Wei asked, “Boss, do you know how black-hearted that dog shelter was?”
Lu Chenghe looked up. “Killed a lot?”
Qi Wei nodded. “That shelter has been operating for seven or eight years. Initially, they traded once a month, with around a hundred stray dogs each time. Later, it became almost a weekly transaction, with similar numbers. Some dog traders also sold stolen and poisoned dogs through their channels, accumulating a large number. Most of the dogs they killed were unattractive or mixed breeds. The well-bred dogs were groomed and put up for adoption to gain a good reputation. Society has no idea how many more such dog shelters exist.”
Qi Wei sighed after speaking, “Boss, you must keep an eye on your dog. It will be hard to find it again if it goes missing.”
Zuo Ning, who was eavesdropping in the room, unconsciously stuck his head out upon hearing this. He couldn’t help but whimper when he heard that Lu Chenghe should keep an eye on him to avoid losing him. Would he really get lost? If he could lose himself, he would seriously doubt whether his previous life as a human was just a self-imagined fantasy of his dog life.
Hearing the sound from the small room, Qi Wei instinctively turned his head. Zuo Ning, realizing he had been discovered, quickly tried to retract his head and close the door. Unfortunately, his paw accidentally touched the door, and as he pulled his head back, it got caught…
He whimpered in pain, finally retracting his head and using his paw to rub the spot where his neck had been pinched. It was so embarrassing he wanted to cry.
Lu Chenghe witnessed the entire scene of Zuo Ning’s head getting caught in the door and silently suppressed the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing the lively Little Pudding, Qi Wei’s eyes lit up with the soul of a dog dad. “Little Pudding!”
He had watched that movie before and then found Little Pudding’s Weibo through the movie. At that time, he didn’t know Little Pudding was the boss’s dog. Only after seeing some earlier pictures on Weibo did he realize the background was the boss’s house, including the study and even the bedroom, which he had never entered! Combining this with the boss’s previous questions about dogs, Qi Wei deduced that the chubby Little Pudding must be the boss’s dog!
Now, unexpectedly seeing a living Little Pudding in the boss’s office, he would have almost rushed over to pet him if he hadn’t remembered his role as an assistant.
Compared to the fluffy and adorable Samoyed, his Border Collie son seemed a bit aloof. The long fur lay flat against his body, lacking the fluffy feel of a Samoyed.
Lu Chenghe knocked on the table, snapping his subordinate, who was craning his neck to look into the small room, back to reality.
Qi Wei glanced at the boss and, seeing that Little Pudding hadn’t come out, regretfully left the office without getting to pet the dog.
After Qi Wei had returned to work, Lu Chenghe called out to the small room, “Little Pudding, come here.”
Zuo Ning used his paw to push open the door and pounced on Lu Chenghe’s leg, whining, “Awoo.” I didn’t mean to get caught.
Lu Chenghe rubbed his head and neck, then tapped his forehead with his fingertip. “You really did get your head stuck in the door,” he said.
Zuo Ning clung to Lu Chenghe’s leg, resting his head on his thigh for some petting. As for what Lu Chenghe had just said, sorry, he didn’t understand.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door again. Zuo Ning instinctively hid under Lu Chenghe’s desk, making sure his tail wasn’t sticking out, and rested his head on Lu Chenghe’s leg, looking up at him with innocent eyes.
Seeing that Zuo Ning didn’t intend to move, Lu Chenghe let the subordinate in.
People came and went, reporting their work while Zuo Ning hid under the desk, listening. Each person spoke fluently, just like the elite professionals he had seen in TV dramas. Although he didn’t understand some of the technical terms, they sounded impressive. Zuo Ning thought to himself, no wonder they were among the top 100 global companies; these elites could each handle things on their own.
Listening intently, Zuo Ning eventually fell asleep, resting his head on Lu Chenghe’s leg while sitting in front of his chair.
Whenever Lu Chenghe looked down at the documents, he would see Zuo Ning’s round eyes blinking until he finally succumbed to sleep. This sleeping posture seemed uncomfortable, as if Zuo Ning could slide off at any moment. Lu Chenghe found himself distracted the entire morning, managing the sleeping dog on his leg.
After a refreshing nap, Zuo Ning woke up and yawned widely. As he tilted his head back, he bumped it against the desk with a thud.
Lu Chenghe leaned back in his chair, silently watching as Zuo Ning used his paws to rub the spot where he had bumped his head. He thought to himself that getting his head stuck in the door and now bumping it again might lower Zuo Ning’s intelligence by a few levels today.
Zuo Ning scratched his head, finally remembering where he was. When he looked up, he saw Lu Chenghe staring at him with a blank expression. He quickly put on a flattering smile and moved closer, whining, “Awoo~”
Seeing Zuo Ning’s innocent and naive look, Lu Chenghe couldn’t help but smile. He knocked on Zuo Ning’s head and said, “If you keep bumping your head like this, you might forget who you are.” With that, Lu Chenghe slid his chair back, stood up, and walked toward the tea table and sofa where lunch was ready. “Come on, it’s time to eat.”
Upon hearing this, Zuo Ning’s eyes instantly dimmed. As Lu Chenghe stood up, the large floor-to-ceiling windows behind him came into view. Outside the windows were towering buildings and busy streets filled with cars. In Qingniao City, a rapidly developing economic hub, luxury cars were a common sight.
Zuo Ning’s dream had always been to own a small house in the city center, have a livelihood to support himself, visit his parents for dinner every week, and listen to their nagging. He also wanted a group of friends to hang out with, sit on the street in the summer, eat skewers, and chat about everything under the sun.
As he grew older, he would find the right person to marry and have children with. If it was a girl, he would pamper her like a princess; if it was a boy, he would let him grow up wild. And when he got old, he would raise a Golden Retriever.
But this simple dream completely slipped away one day when he opened his eyes.
He tried to convince himself to accept the sudden change, adapt to his new life, and accept his new identity, gradually forgetting that there was once someone named Zuo Ning.
Zuo Ning looked at his furry paws and silently thought that he might eventually forget. One day, he would forget who he was and just become a simple dog who loved his master.
But what if one day, he really forgot who he was?
Lu Chenghe walked to the tea table and saw that Little Pudding hadn’t followed him. He was staring blankly out the floor-to-ceiling window. He called again, “Little Pudding, are you coming to eat?”
Zuo Ning rubbed his face with his paw and decided not to think about it. What was the point? Living in the moment and enjoying life was the most important. He barked and came out from under the desk, wagging his tail as he walked to Lu Chenghe’s side. Sniffing the aroma of the food, Zuo Ning swallowed. Unfortunately, there was only drink in Lu Chenghe’s mini-fridge; it would be great if there were food, too.
As he ate his dog food, Zuo Ning silently decided that he would drink two of Lu Chenghe’s bottles of juice today to soothe his fragile heart.
