Chapter 34: Da Huang¹, in Danger!

What does it feel like to become famous? Aofeng wasn’t quite sure. After all, he’d just had a good night’s sleep, and when he returned to the Traffic Police Squad, Sun Xiaobin greeted him excitedly, “Aofeng, you’ve gone viral!”

He pulled up the main page of their video channel, where the follower count now read 223,000.

Viral… really? Aofeng was a bit confused. So what exactly was the benefit of going viral?

In his previous life as a human, he’d been an ordinary office worker, never famous, so naturally he had no idea what perks came with it. Now that he was famous in this life, nothing seemed to have changed much either. The only difference was that the short video they uploaded today had racked up tens of thousands of views within just an hour. At this rate, the view count would soon far surpass the follower count.

The video they shot today wasn’t all that different from yesterday’s in style. It was another dog training tutorial. But aside from a few people genuinely interested in learning techniques, most viewers were just there to see Aofeng.

This video had been posted on the Training Base’s video channel. Compared to its early days, the channel had undergone a dramatic transformation. And the most unbelievable part was that it had only taken less than two days. For ordinary people like them, it felt almost magical. What they didn’t know was that some people could explode in popularity with just one or two videos, gaining over a million followers in mere days.

Once an internet celebrity gains traction, they usually start livestreaming to sell products, making money off their fans. But now that Aofeng had gone viral, there was no way he’d be doing that. Their account was an official one, and they obviously wouldn’t engage in such activities.

Still, just because they weren’t interested didn’t mean others wouldn’t try to get them involved.

…

Luo Zikun was the owner of a dog food processing factory in Anyang City, specializing in food for adult dogs. Business was just barely getting by. While others competed on quality, he took a different route, focusing on quantity.

At the same price point, his factory’s dog food came with two extra pounds compared to competitors. For pet owners with tighter budgets, that was a tempting offer.

But lately, their online store had been flooded with negative reviews and complaints. Once other customers saw that, they naturally stopped buying, and business plummeted by nearly seventy percent.

The sudden drop left Luo Zikun deeply troubled. Running the factory’s machines burned money every day, but the products weren’t selling and were just piling up in storage, gathering dust.

Watching his cash flow shrink by the day, Luo Zikun made a decision. If online sales weren’t working, he’d try offline channels.

So he started hauling his dog food around to local pet shops. After a few days of legwork—literally running his legs thin—he finally managed to make a few sales, and that was only after offering steep discounts.

Frustrated, Luo Zikun turned to a friend for a drink to vent. Seeing how stressed he was about the business, the friend offered a suggestion. He said short video product placements had been blowing up recently, and if Luo could find a popular influencer to promote his dog food, he could probably sell a lot more.

Luo Zikun was intrigued. He spent the next few days researching livestream product placements. After watching for a while, he came to a few conclusions: first, the product had to be targeted to a specific audience. Otherwise, it wouldn’t sell. Second, the influencer needed to have real clout and influence. Big-name streamers had loyal fans who would buy whatever they recommended without a second thought.

Since he was selling dog food, it made sense to find a pet influencer. Their followers were likely pet owners, which would greatly increase the chances of a sale.

He tried reaching out to a few pet influencers with over a million followers, but their asking prices for product placement left him speechless. Damn it, if he had that kind of money, he wouldn’t even be in this business anymore.

At a loss, he went back to the same friend for advice.

The friend listened, then pulled out his phone and showed Luo a video.

“This is the new internet celebrity from our own Anyang City. It’s a police dog named Aofeng. In just a few days, it’s gained over two hundred thousand followers, and the number’s still rising. Why not try reaching out? Even if people elsewhere don’t care, folks in Anyang definitely will.”

“Wait… seriously? A police dog? Would it even agree to promote my product?” Luo was tempted, but the idea of a police dog made him hesitate.

“Are you stupid? Just offer them something in return. That training base has so many dogs. If you offer them a supply deal at a low price, which leader wouldn’t be interested? And once Aofeng successfully promotes your product, everything will fall into place.”

Luo Zikun thought that made sense. If a local celebrity police dog endorsed his product, it might even help him break into the pet shop market in Anyang. Then he wouldn’t have to beg anyone anymore.

After weighing his options, Luo decided to go for it. He pulled out his phone, followed the Training Base’s video channel, and started sending private messages about the product placement.

…

“Brother Song, check out this private message. This guy actually wants us to promote his product. Wait, no, he wants Aofeng to livestream and sell his dog food.” Sun Xiaobin couldn’t help but laugh. This guy didn’t even do his homework. Has anyone ever seen an official account doing product placements?

When Aofeng heard his name, he immediately turned his head. Livestream product placement? Did they expect him to bark a few times on camera?

“Tell him we’re an official account. We can’t be used for product promotion,” Song Changfeng said. The guy didn’t mean any harm, so he responded politely.

Sun Xiaobin followed his instructions and sent the message. Not long after, another reply came in.

“Brother Song, he says he runs a dog food factory. If we agree to promote his product, he’s willing to send a batch of dog food to our base for free. And if we decide to buy more later, he’ll offer it at a super low price,” Sun Xiaobin read aloud.

Song Changfeng replied, “The nutritional content of our base’s dog food is different from what’s on the market. Even if he sends it, we won’t feed it to the police dogs.”

“Got it. I’ll let him know we’re not interested.” As he spoke, Sun Xiaobin typed out the reply and quickly sent it off.

Aofeng lay on the ground, thinking, So it’s about promoting dog food? That’s actually kind of creative. But shouldn’t they be asking me? After all, I am a dog now. Still, there’s no way I’m doing it. Even if I weren’t part of an official account, I wouldn’t want to be on camera scarfing down dog food.

Luo Zikun was dumbfounded when he got the message. They were turning down a benefit handed to them on a silver platter? Were they out of their minds? Or did they think he wasn’t offering enough?

“If they’re not satisfied, we can renegotiate the price,” Sun Xiaobin muttered. “He actually thinks we turned him down because he was being stingy. Whatever, I’ll send him another message.”

Luo Zikun waited patiently, but what he got back was yet another rejection. He felt a bit dejected, unsure of what to do next.

One of his friends said, “Isn’t it obvious? They’re not buying it because they haven’t tasted your dog food. If you can get that dog hooked after just one bite, you’re in.”

Luo Zikun fell into deep thought. Get it… hooked?

Should he use a flavor enhancer?

Normally, adding a certain amount of flavor enhancer to dog food can increase a dog’s appetite and make them more interested in eating. It’s harmless to the dog.

But Luo Zikun, hoping to attract Aofeng’s interest, had loaded those bags of dog food with a generous amount of flavor enhancer. He believed that if that police dog took just one bite, it would be hooked on his dog food for good.

He found out that Aofeng had been filming at the Traffic Police Squad these past few days, so he placed an open bag of dog food next to the iron gate that often appeared in the videos, hoping Aofeng would come across it.

After finishing his tasks for the day, Aofeng once again approached the iron gate. It was already the third day, and they were scheduled to return to base tomorrow. He came to say goodbye to the stray dog Da Huang, so the poor guy wouldn’t come waiting for him again tomorrow. Yesterday, Da Huang had waited there for ages, clearly still trying to convince Aofeng to join his gang.

As Aofeng approached, he caught sight of Da Huang’s rear half and called out, “Da Huang, how long’ve you been waiting today?”

But Da Huang didn’t respond. He was too busy, head buried in something on the ground, eating away.

Aofeng called him again, but Da Huang still didn’t look up. In fact, he shoved his head even deeper into the bag, as if trying to bury himself in it to eat.

Something felt off. What could possibly taste so good that Da Huang would forget all his manners? Despite being a stray, Da Huang usually had decent etiquette.

Curious, Aofeng leaned in to get a better look at what Da Huang was eating. He finally caught sight of the label on the bag: “Hao Hao Chi² Brand Dog Food.”

Hao Hao Chi Brand… Dog Food?

Aofeng shook his head. Da Huang was such a hypocrite. He’d been the one who scoffed at dry dog food last time, yet here he was, scarfing it down like it was gourmet.

“Da Huang? Da Huang?” Aofeng called out a few more times. Maybe the sound interrupted Da Huang’s feast, because he suddenly jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes glaring at Aofeng.

Something was wrong.

The smile vanished from Aofeng’s face. Da Huang didn’t look right. He looked like someone who had lost all reason, like he could snap and attack at any moment. It was terrifying.

Everyone knew that rabies carriers were mad dogs. If anyone saw Da Huang like this, he’d be in serious danger!

Translator’s Notes