Chapter 25: Dog

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

“The big boss said that it was useful. When he was a lowly figure in the demon descendants community, his wife gave it to him. After I joined Baoze, he gave it to me as a welcome gift. However, I have no use for it. Take it,” San Wu said.

Li Xianyu held the badge in his hand as he felt a surge of luck. Suddenly, it was as if he had been promoted from an ordinary civilian to a revered and respected figure.

He walked one round around the kitchen, living room, study room, and the balcony. The badge remained cold, without any signs of heating up.

He looked at San Wu and shook his head, unsure of whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

He walked back to the living room and beckoned for the lady boss. “Is your husband under great stress, hence resulting in a mental illness?”

The lady boss replied, “Mental illness?”

Li Xianyu spoke hastily, “If he dreamt of someone wanting to break his legs, it’s likely that he’s trying to run away from his work. This is according to patients’ psychology. It could also be that he feels that life is repetitive, hence if someone breaks his legs, he would not feel the need to work anymore.”

Li Xianyu spoke lots of nonsensical words, but it seemed to make sense, at least to the lady boss. She asked worriedly, “What should we do then?”

He asked the lady boss to take it easy. Mental illnesses required long-term medication for recuperation.

“I’m curious about something,” Li Xianyu asked, “How did… you and your husband meet?”

“Is this related to his illness?” the lady boss asked. “We were junior high school classmates. After we got married, we came to Shanghai to carve out a future.”

“His sister…”

“She’s at her old home. Doctor Li, is there anything wrong?” the lady boss asked anxiously.

Li Xianyu waved his hand. Did I guess wrongly then?

Why would someone threaten to break his leg then?

Li Xianyu tapped on Great-Grandma’s shoulders and ordered, “Let’s go back.”

Great-Grandma replied, “Let me play another round.”

To hell with that! He forcefully dragged her away and said goodbye to the lady boss, leaving the building through the elevator.

He had been given 24 hours to solve the mission. However, the boss and his wife had not given him any useful clues to do so.

The initial deduction was that his deceased parents’ spirits were aggrieved due to his lack of filial piety… No, it was too simplified. There was definitely something amiss.

As an inexperienced greenhorn, he felt helpless upon stumbling onto a dead end on his first mission. Coincidentally, San Wu and Great-Grandma did not appear reliable at all.

This was a small mission. It rewarded 5 points, which translated to about $5,000.

“It’s just a small mission, yet it feels so hard,” Li Xianyu mumbled to himself. “I’m more suited for classroom learning. I’m a scholar by nature. So what if I got into that university? So what if I can reason? My hands-on prowess is non-existent.”

“Good grandson,” Great-Grandma consoled him.

“I’m not buying that VR helmet. Over my dead body,” Li Xianyu replied instantly.

Great-Grandma sneered and grabbed at his arm, shaking it vigorously. “Buy it, please… when you get your wage next month.”

Li Xianyu felt as if their roles should be reversed. He had never seen a 150-year-old great-grandmother acting spoiled towards her 20-year-old great-grandson.

“Dream on.”

Li Xianyu was determined. Great-Grandma was helpless as she sneered angrily, kicking his leg.

Great-Grandma said, “Let’s have Thai food tonight then.”

It wasn’t because Thai food was nice. It was just that she had eaten a high-class version of it. Great-Grandma was being ridiculous. Li Xianyu thought to himself before he shook his head decisively and said, “It’s $200-$300 per person. Too expensive, we can’t afford it.”

Great-Grandma casually mentioned, “San Wu has money.”

“You have the cheek to say that! How shameless can you get?” Li Xianyu appeared to scold her on the surface, but maintained a hopeful look in his eyes as he looked towards San Wu. “San Wu, what do you think about this?”

San Wu replied in a deep voice, “I think both of you are shameless as well.”

Great-Grandma replied in anger, “Petty woman. We’ll return you the money when my grandson gets his salary.”

San Wu said, “You guys asked me for my opinion.”

Li Xianyu laughed awkwardly and digressed, “Let’s have chicken stew tonight. Shaxian is closed today, we can only have chicken stew.”

It was my fault. I shouldn’t have asked the master of sarcasm for her opinion.

San Wu continued calmly, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that you guys were shameless. Although that was the truth, but I don’t care about money. Let’s eat.”

Li Xianyu covered his face. “Forget it, forget it, let’s have chicken stew. My treat.”

Chicken stew actually tasted good if one disregarded the unhealthy ingredients inside. However, people would get sick of it easily due to eating the same ingredients over and over again. It was not suitable for long term consumption.

In the small shop, Li Xianyu sat opposite the two useless women. The way that Great-Grandma and San Wu ate was not glamorous at all. However, the fact that they were pretty women neutralised that.

As Li Xianyu looked at Great-Grandma devouring her food wildly, he could not help but notice her puffy cheeks, red lips and pretty eyes. Suddenly, a wild thought flashed through his mind. With her looks and gentle voice, she would make a good host. She would definitely rake in a lot of money. Then, I’d be her manager and dominate this industry, expanding towards showbiz. We’d be at the peak of life, not having to worry about money anymore.

Heaven’s Entertainment was under Baoze Group. Looks like hosting wasn’t necessary anymore. I could request to join that industry directly from the headquarters. He just needed to be Great-Grandma’s lackey, in order to gain access to unlimited riches.

It looked like being a superstar or a sugar baby were the only ways to satisfy her spending habits.

However, this notion was quickly dispelled by him. Great-Grandma had mentioned that she was a classy person back then. Probably, a bit too classy. Many people from the demon descendants community would recognise her.

He thought about the shitstorm that his damned father had stirred up back then, causing everyone to go after his life. Once Great-Grandma’s identity was blown, he would be doomed.

“What are you looking at?” Great-Grandma asked him as she detected his suspicious intentions through the look in his eyes. “Why do I feel you’re always up to no good?”

He sighed. “It’s a pity that my dad died early. I have to clean up his mess from a young age to serve you, my great-grandaunt.”

“It’s Great-Grandma,” she corrected him.

Li Xianyu argued, “Isn’t your surname Li? You didn’t marry into the Li family, I shouldn’t call you Great-Grandma.”

“I don’t care, Great-Grandma sounds better,” Great-Grandma uttered.

“As long as you’re happy.”

Great-Grandma put down her chopsticks, reached out her hand and patted Li Xianyu’s shoulders as she said, “The old emperors died halfway while building their empires. Little Li, Great-Grandma has been entrusted to protect you. I will do so, just like Zhuge Liang.”

Li Xianyu rolled his eyes, “No, the emperor should rise up from his coffin and continue to build his empire.”

Great-Grandma and her grandson continued to spout nonsense as they wolfed down their non-nutritious dinners.

“Woof…”

The sounds of a dog echoed out from beneath them. The dishevelled Samoyed dog limped into the shop and squatted beside Great-Grandma’s legs, looking at her expectantly.

There were dirt stains all over its thin, frail body as it begged for food with a hopeful look in its eyes.

“A pug.” Great-Grandma frowned and showed her displeasure. However, she still swept a piece of chicken bone from the table onto the floor.

The pug whimpered once before lowering its head to eat.

The lady boss walked over quickly and kicked the dog a good half a metre away as she scolded, “Scram. So smelly.”

The Samoyed dog could only manage a small whimper as it rolled around the floor, limping as it tried to escape.

Li Xianyu noticed the dog squatting beside a tree by the roadside, licking its wounds tamely. Then, it looked towards the front, remaining motionless.

Its shadow was pitiful and lonely, resemblant of a wastrel.

Li Xianyu had seen this dog in this estate many times. Every single time, it appeared like this: it either squatted by the tree or leaned over.

This was a stray dog that had lost its will to live. If it worked harder to scavenge for food, it wouldn’t have ended up in this state today.

“Lady Boss, there was no need to do that,” Li Xianyu frowned and remarked.

“You don’t know how repulsive it is. It stays by the shop all day, it’s dirty and smelly. Some of my customers have been driven away because of that. I don’t know what’s wrong with this dog. Shaxian’s boss beats this dog whenever he sees it too, but it can’t be chased away. It’s so stubborn.”

Li Xianyu replied, “You’re the kind one then, so much better than that guy next door. I don’t like to patronize his place, yours is much better.”

San Wu cut in emotionlessly, “You said Shaxian was closed today, hence we had no choice but to eat chicken stew.”

The surroundings suddenly turned silent. The lady boss turned around quietly and left. Li Xianyu covered his forehead with his hand.

“Do you guys want to wait by their door after we eat? Let’s wait for the dirty thing to appear. San Wu will handle it,” Li Xianyu muttered.

Great-Grandma said, “There are no dirty things.”

Li Xianyu was shocked. “What?”

The oil stains on Great-Grandma’s lips were visible. She remarked as she ate, “That house has no aggrieved spirits. I didn’t smell any.”

Li Xianyu frowned. Was it really that the owner had a mental illness? Had he jumped to conclusions simply because he saw the owner’s deceased mother?

After he ate and settled the bill, Li Xianyu used tissue paper to wrap the chicken bones up. He intended to bring them to that Samoyed dog.

The dog, sensing that someone was approaching, retreated a few steps in panic, seemingly getting the feel that the person was out to beat it. It looked at Li Xianyu pitifully.

Li Xianyu squatted down and threw the bones in front of the dog. It looked at him, then lowered its head to look at the bones. It sniffed the bones and approached them.

“Wastrel of a dog,” Great-Grandma remarked in disdain.

“Great-Grandma, you’re wrong. This dog is pretty expensive,” Li Xianyu replied.

“It’s a stupid dog, boorish, and ugly. If the owner is low-class, the dog will be as well,” Great-Grandma argued with conviction.

Li Xianyu shrugged his shoulders. “Here you go again, the Qing Dynasty ended long ago.”

Great-Grandma said, “Although Qing has ended, the ethnicities didn’t. We Chinese are still talented and resourceful.”

Li Xianyu remained silent for awhile before feeling a little sad inside.

Great-Grandma suddenly flew into a rage as she shouted, “This dog is yours?!”

Li Xianyu was utterly puzzled.

Great-Grandma continued to shout, “The Western people bombed our empire and committed many heinous deeds like arson, murder and robbery. Our people were so pitiful. Your generation is so unfilial by providing for their dogs. Utterly ridiculous! When I awakened a few decades ago, there weren’t so many running about. Now, it can no longer be controlled.”

Li Xianyu was absolutely stunned.

Great-Grandma continued, “You said it was part of your family. When the Western scoundrels killed your ancestors, did they treat us as part of their family?”

Had the screws finally come off of Great-Grandma’s brains? Or had she lived too long, resulting in mental episodes? Resulting in her reminiscing about the past historical events?

He looked at San Wu, but realized that she was staring at a point behind him.

“What, what are you looking at?” Li Xianyu’s blood turned cold.

San Wu said, “There’s something behind you.”

As she finished speaking, Li Xianyu suddenly felt a burning sensation in his eyes. It was unbearable as tears streamed out of his eyes. At the same time, a gush of cold wind started to blow, causing the hair on his back to stand.

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