Chapter 2: Encounter with a Puppy on the Road

Unable to come up with a solution, Aofeng made a decision.

He was going to escape.

No matter where he ended up, it had to be better than getting neutered.

On the day before he was scheduled to be eliminated, Aofeng, as usual, didn’t participate in training. His Trainer¹ had already given up on him. For the final two days, he simply let Aofeng wander around freely, no longer trying to steer him back onto the right path.

There were more people around during the day, and someone might notice him. So in the evening, Aofeng used playtime as an excuse and, like a clueless and cheerful Samoyed², ran around sniffing here and there. Before he knew it, he had strayed from the crowd and arrived at the base of a fence.

The police dog breeding base in Anyang City had been around for over a decade, and naturally, there were some areas that had fallen into disrepair. For instance, this section of the fence had a steel bar in the middle that was half-broken, leaving a hole about twenty centimeters wide. A person couldn’t fit through, but Aofeng could just barely squeeze his body through it.

He had discovered this spot days ago and had been waiting for the right moment to make his move toward a brighter future.

The taste of freedom was so refreshing. Even though a patch of fur on his belly had been scraped bald, Aofeng didn’t care at all. He shook out his fur and strutted forward with his head held high, his furry face full of pride, as if he could already see the day he would rule over Anyang.

Half an hour later, standing on a long stretch of road and staring into the distant, invisible future, Aofeng’s dog face went blank.

He had spent his entire life in the base since birth and had never been outside. In his past life, he’d never had any dealings with police dogs either, so naturally he didn’t know that the base was located in the outskirts, about fifty to sixty kilometers from downtown Anyang.

Just how far could a four- or five-month-old puppy go without dinner? Aofeng looked back at the base, now barely visible at the end of the mountain road, and estimated he’d made it about three kilometers.

If he turned back now, could he still make it in time for dinner? Aofeng stared solemnly at his own paws, his mind drifting into endless imagination.

In other words, he zoned out.

No one knew how long he stood there, but eventually a cool raindrop landed on the tip of his nose, snapping him back to reality.

Dogs have much better night vision than humans. What looked pitch black to people was perfectly visible to Aofeng.

He sighed, glanced back in the direction of the base, then turned and walked forward without hesitation. He told himself he couldn’t trade his last shred of dignity for temporary comfort.

June weather was notoriously unpredictable. What started as a few drops of rain quickly turned into a downpour, soaking Aofeng’s fur until it clung to his round little body in wet clumps, making him the very picture of a drowned dog³.

On one side of the road was a mountain, on the other a drop-off several meters high. There was nowhere to take shelter. Aofeng squinted through the rain that was stinging his eyes, deeply regretting his choice to travel on a day like this.

But it was too late for regrets. He could only keep running forward. No one knew how long he ran, but eventually his strength gave out. His four legs gave way, and he collapsed in the middle of the road.

Panting heavily, his belly rose and fell with each breath. Aofeng had a bad feeling. He might have a fever.

For a dog raised in a sheltered environment, today’s exertion had been too much. He hadn’t eaten, had been soaked in the rain for ages – it would be a miracle if he didn’t get sick.

He tried to move to the side, but his legs were too weak. After pawing feebly at the ground for a while, he gave up completely.

With the rain coming down this hard, surely no cars would be on the road, right? But even if one came by, it wouldn’t matter. Who would care about a dying dog in the middle of the road? They probably wouldn’t even stop to look.

…

“Honk, honk!”

Xiao Li glanced at the stern-faced old man sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help honking a few more times. In the glow of the headlights, he saw the lump blocking the road ahead twitch slightly, then fall still again.

Rain made the roads slippery, and driving was already difficult. To make things worse, this area was far from the city, and the broken streetlights had been reported but never repaired. The dim lighting made the drive even more challenging.

Xiao Li had always prided himself on his driving skills. Normally, this kind of situation would be a piece of cake. But today he was especially cautious, because the man in the back seat was none other than Shen Yuanhui, the Bureau Chief of the Anyang Municipal Public Security Bureau.

When his car was flagged down by this man, Xiao Li thought he’d been caught leaving work early. Although he’d never driven for Bureau Chief Shen before, he’d heard plenty of stories from other drivers. They said Shen was a no-nonsense man who didn’t tolerate even a speck of dust in his eyes⁴. Getting caught red-handed like this – well, that was just his bad luck.

He was about to get out and accept a scolding when Bureau Chief Shen knocked on the window first and motioned for him to open the back door. Xiao Li fumbled with the switch and awkwardly greeted, “Good evening, Bureau Chief Shen.”

Shen nodded and replied kindly, “Comrade, sorry to trouble you, but could you give me a ride to the police dog base?”

Xiao Li quickly agreed and started the car with swift hands, stepping on the gas and driving off.

Along the way, Xiao Li kept sneaking glances at Shen Yuanhui through the rearview mirror. Today, Shen was dressed in plain clothes – an old but neat jacket, with the cuffs slightly worn. He looked modest and unassuming. But his brow never relaxed the entire ride, clearly troubled by something.

Given the destination, Xiao Li thought of a recent news story about a training base in the south. It had exposed staff colluding with illegal dog traffickers to auction off police dogs as breeding stock.

Could something like that be happening in Anyang too?!

Xiao Li was startled, feeling like he’d stumbled onto a major secret. Was Bureau Chief Shen going to investigate undercover? The thought filled him with excitement. His whole body perked up, eyes shining with determination, and the veins on his hands gripping the steering wheel bulged with tension.

He was familiar with the police dog base in Anyang. He’d been there two or three times this year. After rounding a few sharp turns ahead, they’d be just minutes away. He yawned, the tension of over an hour of driving starting to wear on him.

“Screech—”

Xiao Li had just started to let his guard down when he suddenly slammed on the brakes. Even with his seatbelt on, his whole body lurched forward. The jolt from the backseat must have been even worse.

He didn’t dare glance at the expression of the person sitting behind him. Forcing his eyes wide open, he stared straight ahead. Through the sheets of rain pouring down, he could make out something blocking the road. It looked like a small animal, probably something that had run down from the mountain. This stretch of road bordered the mountains, and wild animals often wandered onto it.

He honked the horn a few times. The thing seemed to twitch slightly, then went still again. Probably dead, he thought.

“What is it?” Shen Yuanhui asked when he noticed Xiao Li hadn’t moved.

“B-Bureau Chief Shen… looks like some animal died up ahead on the road. Please hold on, I’ll drive around it.” As he spoke, he began reversing the car, preparing to steer around the obstacle.

As the car passed by the animal, Shen Yuanhui happened to glance out the window. Just then, a bolt of lightning split the sky, lighting up the entire mountain road—and the small animal lying on the ground.

“Stop the car!” Shen Yuanhui barked.

Xiao Li obeyed immediately, slamming the brakes again. The moment the car came to a halt, Shen Yuanhui flung open the door and dashed out.

Xiao Li quickly grabbed the umbrella they kept in the car and followed. The rain was coming down hard. Getting soaked would be asking for trouble.

When he caught up to Shen Yuanhui and opened the umbrella over him, he finally understood why the bureau chief had suddenly ordered him to stop.

The small animal lying in the middle of the road was actually a German Shepherd puppy, wearing a collar around its neck. In the light from Shen Yuanhui’s phone, they could clearly see a string of numbers on the collar. The letters “AY” at the beginning unmistakably marked it as a police dog from the training base!

Translator’s Notes