Chapter 67: Not Embarrassing

When Sun Xiaobin sent the message, the other side might have been busy, as there was no reply for quite a while. Over the next half hour, his anticipation slowly turned into disappointment.

He let out a sigh, exited the chat, and opened the video he had just posted. To his surprise, in such a short time, the video had already racked up tens of thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. As expected of Aofeng—when he posted videos of other dogs, the numbers in the same time frame were nowhere near this.

Sun Xiaobin perked up again. Taking advantage of a break in Aofeng’s training, he went over to interact with him. He wanted to film more behind-the-scenes clips to show everyone that Aofeng wasn’t just brave and valiant, but also lively and adorable.

Aofeng was very cooperative, too. After all, this was for promoting the base—nothing to be ashamed of. Even though he didn’t think of himself as cute, with all that fluffy fur, no matter what he did, people would only describe him as adorable.

After training ended, it was already evening. Song Changfeng packed up the training gear and led Aofeng toward the Police Dog Canteen. Sun Xiaobin followed behind them, heading there as well.

“Are you filming dinner too?” Song Changfeng asked, a bit puzzled. Filming during training or playtime was one thing, but what was there to film during a meal?

Sun Xiaobin replied lazily, “Song, you don’t get it. Some people specifically film themselves eating and post it online. It’s called a mukbang. Tons of people watch that stuff.”

Mukbang? Song Changfeng wasn’t into short videos and had never heard the term. Seeing this, Sun Xiaobin pulled out his phone and showed him a mukbang video featuring a competitive eater.

On screen, a man weighing over two hundred pounds was devouring a massive lamb leg, his face glistening with grease. The sound of smacking lips blared from the phone’s speaker. For some reason, Song Changfeng felt his stomach churn.

“People actually like watching this?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Sure they do. Look at that—over three or four hundred thousand likes. That’s more than most of our videos. Though this guy’s eating style is kind of gross. Some people eat more neatly, and that’s easier on the eyes,” Sun Xiaobin said confidently, clearly having done his homework. To improve their Video Channel, he had analyzed all the trending content online.

At first, he considered jumping on viral trends to boost their popularity faster. But he quickly gave up on that idea. Their channel was official, and they weren’t in a rush to monetize. There was no need to chase trends. It was better to stay grounded and do things with care.

“You want Aofeng to do a mukbang too?” Song Changfeng looked away from the greasy video, unable to stomach it any longer.

Sun Xiaobin shook his head. “There are plenty of pet mukbangs out there, but our meals are specially formulated—not as eye-catching as raw food. I just want to gather more fun clips and edit them into a longer video. I even have the title picked out: ‘A Day in the Life of Aofeng.’”

Hearing this, Aofeng felt a strange sense of shame. Luckily, he wasn’t human right now. Otherwise, he’d be completely overwhelmed by all this sudden popularity.

The two men and one dog arrived at the canteen. Song Changfeng had Aofeng sit and wait while he went to get his specially prepared meal. Chef Zhang would tailor each dog’s meal based on their medical reports—adding nutrients they lacked, reducing anything in excess. It was a very scientific and nutritious approach.

While Aofeng buried his head in the food, Sun Xiaobin circled around with his phone, snapping pictures from every angle. He even crouched and knelt in exaggerated poses. Fortunately, everyone at the base was used to this by now and paid him no mind.

Just as Sun Xiaobin was about to start editing the footage, he suddenly noticed that the person he had messaged earlier had replied ten minutes ago. He quickly tapped the message, and the contents popped up on screen.

“Song, take a look at this!” Sun Xiaobin handed the phone to Song Changfeng.

The first thing that caught the eye was the bold title: “Lone Hero.” Song Changfeng’s gaze lingered on it for a moment before moving down. The film’s director was Cheng An. His past works weren’t very well-known, with most of them grossing only ten to twenty million yuan at the box office.

This film told the story of a man who was wrongfully imprisoned, causing his family to fall apart. After being released, he became determined to clear his name. He scoured for evidence and, after two years, single-handedly exposed a seemingly upstanding company that was actually a deeply corrupt criminal organization.

At his lowest point, the protagonist had met a stray dog. The two relied on each other for months. One rainy night, they were discovered by the villains. The dog was beaten to death while trying to protect him.

That final light in his life was extinguished. Devastated, the protagonist found renewed strength and continued his mission, going undercover to gather more evidence.

Song Changfeng didn’t have much to say about the story. A short synopsis wasn’t enough to judge its quality. But one thing was clear: the stray dog didn’t have a lot of screen time—probably around seven or eight minutes in total. Still, it was a pivotal role, as the dog had a profound impact on the main character.

“The other side seems pretty sincere. The synopsis doesn’t look fake either. You could add him on WeChat and get more details,” Song Changfeng suggested.

Sun Xiaobin nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. But I still need to check with Director Li and see what he says.”

Song Changfeng agreed. If Director Li didn’t approve, then no matter how well the talks went, it would be pointless. If he said no, there was no need to waste time on it.

Sun Xiaobin stood up, waved to them, and left the Police Dog Canteen, heading straight for Director Li’s office. Director Li was still there and looked a little puzzled to see Sun Xiaobin show up at this hour.

“Xiaobin, is something wrong?”

Sun Xiaobin explained everything from start to finish and quietly waited for Director Li to make a decision.

After thinking it over, Director Li said, “Go back for now. I’ll need to check with the higher-ups on this. Once I get a clear answer, I’ll let you know.”

After Sun Xiaobin left, Director Li made several phone calls. Once he got the answers he needed, he dialed Sun Xiaobin’s number again.

“Hello, Xiaobin? I’ve looked into it. In principle, it’s doable, but the trainer must be present throughout the filming to prevent any potential incidents, like someone from the crew deliberately harming the police dog or the dog injuring someone, which could lead to negative public backlash.”

A few years ago, during a movie shoot, a production team actually blew up a decorated military dog just to get a so-called perfect shot. When the incident came to light, it sparked widespread outrage. As the saying goes, death can be as light as a feather or as heavy as a mountain¹. A hero may fall gloriously on the battlefield, but should never die at the hands of shameless people trying to grab attention. Because of that, there are now strict guidelines. Positive publicity is encouraged, but using underhanded tricks just to stir up hype is not allowed.

On the other end of the line, Sun Xiaobin was thrilled. He was already leaning toward accepting the offer. The big screen could help more people learn about police dogs. With greater awareness, there would be fewer unnecessary obstacles when they were out on duty.

After hanging up, Sun Xiaobin added the man’s WeChat using the number from the private message. After chatting for a bit, he finally understood why they had contacted him. It turned out the production team was currently filming less than a hundred kilometers from Anyang City.

When they got to this part of the shoot, they had tried using a real stray dog, but unfortunately, it didn’t cooperate. It bit people and kept trying to run away. The director had no choice but to consider using dogs from pet influencers. But most of those dogs were small breeds. The few large ones, like Golden Retrievers or Samoyeds, had gentle temperaments. And then there were the Erhas. None of them looked right for the role of a stray dog.

Eventually, someone suggested using a professionally trained police dog. They’re highly obedient, the right size, and could show the necessary fierceness in that rainy night scene to protect the protagonist.

After settling the plan with the production team to come select a police dog the next day, Sun Xiaobin quickly posted a message in the group chat, calling for any interested police dogs to come audition.

The group was always lively, full of jokes and banter, but when it came to serious matters, everyone suddenly got vague. They just didn’t know enough about the situation. Signing up blindly might end in embarrassment, and who wants to make a fool of themselves?

Left with no other choice, Sun Xiaobin decided to just grab whoever he could find tomorrow. Whoever he ran into would be dragged in to audition. If the production team liked them, they’d be taken straight away. This was a big opportunity to promote the base – nothing to be embarrassed about!

Translator’s Notes