chapter 136

The girl opened the front door and stepped into the sunlight.

Luo Jia Bai raised a hand to block the light a little and heard the conversation inside:

“Why did you come downstairs alone? Dad just finished bringing Grandma back. The roads were terrible today, cars everywhere. I heard the mall on Central Street is holding some big event, it’s packed with people.”

“I want to walk around the neighborhood with Battery. I’m not going out.”

“All right, walking around the neighborhood is good too. Want Dad to go with you?”

Their conversation was drowned out by a sudden surge of noisy voices.

“They’ve all been dewormed, vaccinated, and the ones of appropriate age have been neutered. These are all stray animals that kind citizens stopped cars to help us rescue. There are simply too many of them, and our manpower and resources are limited. If you confirm an adoption today, you can sign and take a photo.”

“We only brought some of them today. There are many more back at the animal protection base. You can follow our base’s updates. If anyone who wasn’t able to come today wants to adopt, you can contact us anytime.”

“They just want a home.”

Luo Jia Bai took a step forward and walked into the sunlight.

When he stopped, the scene in front of him had changed again.

He and Mirella were standing on the First Floor of the mall on Central Street.

The place was buzzing with life.

A child was standing there, head tilted back as he looked at the two dogs in the cage with yearning eyes, unable to move on. He tugged on his mother’s clothes. “I want to keep one.”

“You have to think carefully. Once you take it home, you can’t abandon it. Do you have the patience and resolve to properly care for a life?”

The two of them moved with the crowd, stopping and starting as they walked. In the end, under the child’s determined gaze, they came back and took away the smaller, cuter dog from the cage.

The other, larger dog watched its companion be chosen. The tail it had been wagging eagerly finally stopped and drooped listlessly to the ground.

New people came to the front of the cage.

Hope returned to him again. He pressed himself against the cage wall.

But no one stopped for him.

It started to rain outside the mall.

The ground was trampled into a wet mess. The people who’d gathered for the event slowly drifted away.

The event was nearing its end.

Most of the animals had been adopted. Only a few remained, lonely figures.

The big dog lay with his chin on his front paws, dark eyes seemingly despairing as he stared at a corner of the cage. But every time footsteps passed by, his ears still twitched.

Luo Jia Bai looked at the big dog and muttered, “You look like the one I met in the Instance.”

The Monster Dog in the Instance had been half human, which was why he’d been so shocked when he saw the scars crisscrossing this big dog’s body.

Aside from the healed wound on his neck, there were many others.

His thigh was covered in them as well.

Even after the Medicine, the hideous scars couldn’t be concealed.

The rain fell harder and harder. Empty cages were collected, staff began wiping down tables and cleaning up the site.

Luo Jia Bai heard the dog sigh.

It sounded like self-mockery, and also like resignation.

Would anyone still come to adopt him now?

Luo Jia Bai crouched down, wanting to touch his wounds. His hand passed right through the dog’s body, so he said softly, “Wait a little longer.”

“The best is always saved for last. Even if it’s not today, you’ll have a home someday.”

A girl in work clothes, looking like she’d rushed over straight from getting off work, hurried over.

She pressed her wet umbrella down on the big dog’s cage, which was already being lifted. “Hello, did you pick this dog up on the next street over?”

“Someone was illegally transporting pets for sale. We stopped the truck and rescued them.”

“It’s him.” The girl looked at the dog that had suddenly stood up inside the cage and let out a breath of relief. “A week ago, I saw him on a rainy day just like this.”

“His home had been washed to pieces by the rain. That night, I held an umbrella and walked him to a place where he could stay dry. I left for a bit to buy him something to eat, and when I came back, he was gone.”

“Every day since, I’ve gone back to that home that had been ruined by the rain to look for him, but I never found him. So he was here all along.”

The cage was set back onto the table, and the door was opened.

“Would you like to adopt him?”

“If he chooses me.” Another brand-new cage was brought over and its door opened as well. “He’s so big, I even went out and specially bought an airline carrier.”

She beckoned gently to the big dog. “Will you come in yourself?”

“If you’re willing to come with me, you’ll have a home.”

The big dog’s tail wagged happily from side to side, thumping hard against the cage as he rushed toward the open door.

His answer was:

Of course.

–

The event had ended.

The staff who’d worked themselves ragged all day discovered a thick stack of cash in one of their bags-lots of red bills, with some blue and green mixed in.

The bills were of mixed condition, some new, some worn, as if they’d been scraped together at the last minute.

“This isn’t ours.”

“Who put the money in here?”

Under the cash was a note.

[We heard the base’s funds are tight, and that many animals still haven’t found adopters, so the base has to cover their expenses. We hope this money can help you get through this rough patch.]

[From a good-hearted citizen who just won a lawsuit against a shady pet hospital.]

[PS: Honestly, it wasn’t this much at first. But when I was stuffing money into your bag, other people at the event saw me and started following along, so that’s why the amounts are all over the place.]

Luo Jia Bai’s Wristband vibrated.

He received a message from Lu Li and turned to call Mirella over.

“Lu Li’s outside the mall. He wants us to follow this street to the nearest university.”

Luo Jia Bai was still puzzling over the message. “Lu Li says he has a friend with him. This friend is pretty shy and might keep wearing a black robe to cover their face the whole time. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Since when does Lu Li have a new friend?”

Mirella felt her shoulder suddenly lighten.

Fenny slipped and fell off, and Mirella caught him. He looked panicked, mind racing frantically.

Crap, crap, crap!

Only he knew who this “new friend” really was!

Should he go with them-or absolutely not?!