Chapter 23: Not Tall Enough? Then Jump for It

“Knock knock knock!”

In the Archives Room, Jiang Tao was busy organizing documents. The police dogs had undergone another physical examination yesterday, and Xu Dong had just handed him the reports. When he suddenly heard someone knocking, he immediately called out, “Come in.”

Someone stepped through the door. Jiang Tao looked up and smiled. “Changfeng, what brings you here at this hour?” The two of them had joined the force in the same year and had always gotten along well.

Song Changfeng smiled too. “Hope I’m not interrupting?”

Jiang Tao shook his head. “Of course not. I’ve only got a few more files to go. Have a seat.” As he spoke, his hands didn’t stop moving. He opened a file folder, pulled out a stack of papers, inserted a medical report, then quickly sealed it back up.

“These are yesterday’s medical reports?”

“Yeah, that guy Xu Dong just dropped them off. Now I’ve got to work overtime because of him,” Jiang Tao grumbled. He could’ve left it for tomorrow, but his motto had always been to finish today’s work today. If he didn’t get it done, he’d just keep thinking about it even after going back to the dorm.

Song Changfeng chuckled. “Sounds like his procrastination’s acting up again. By the way, can I take a look at these files?”

Jiang Tao nodded. “Of course. Just grab whichever one you want.”

Song Changfeng’s eyes scanned the row of files until he found the one belonging to Aofeng. The label bore Aofeng’s original name – Shen Yaqi. He flipped through the contents quickly, and a strange expression crept onto his face, like finding half a worm in an apple he was about to finish.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the original name he’d been given actually belonged to Aofeng. Otherwise, how could there be such a huge difference?

In this afternoon’s assessment, Aofeng had unsurprisingly taken first place. Among all the police dogs that found ten balls, he had the shortest time, far ahead of the others. But judging from the records in the file, the current Aofeng was nothing like the one from before. It was like they were two completely different dogs.

What could have caused such a dramatic change? With questions swirling in his mind, Song Changfeng turned to Jiang Tao for answers.

“To be honest, I’m not really sure either,” Jiang Tao said with a shrug. As someone who handled paperwork, his knowledge of dogs was limited to what he read in files. Asking him to actually train a dog would be like fighting a war on paper¹.

“But if you’re asking whether there were any signs, well, there were a few things that happened before Aofeng got better…” Jiang Tao launched into a storytelling tone as he recounted the series of events: Aofeng running away, meeting Bureau Chief Shen, staying overnight during a rainy night, acting cute to get adopted, and bravely confronting a criminal at a kindergarten. He’d heard all this from coworkers during lunch and had been so engrossed in the story that he ate three full bowls of rice².

Song Changfeng listened, captivated. So much had happened with this police dog. No wonder in that video, Aofeng’s trainer wasn’t seen helping out.

What Song Changfeng didn’t know was that the video they’d watched was a segment edited by the TV station. It only showed the most intense and exciting moments, leaving out the long stretches where Aofeng had been alert and tracking the criminal. This gave Song Changfeng the impression that Aofeng had simply reacted on instinct when the incident occurred.

After leaving the Archives Room, Song Changfeng headed to the Kennel. The police dogs were all resting, but when they heard an unfamiliar set of footsteps, their ears perked up in unison, and their previously lazy bodies tensed.

The footsteps grew closer. Some of the more outgoing dogs immediately left their beds, stood on their hind legs, and leaned against the iron bars to curiously observe the newcomer. The more guarded ones let out low growls from their throats, warning the stranger not to mess with them. A few with short tempers barked outright.

Song Changfeng kept his eyes forward, paying little attention to the dogs’ various reactions. Generally speaking, when encountering unfamiliar dogs, it’s best not to make direct eye contact. A human’s downward gaze can be intimidating, making the dog feel challenged and prompting a defensive or even aggressive response.

Aofeng’s ears were perked up too. From the chorus of barking ahead, he picked up on a few clues.

A stranger? But not completely unfamiliar? It seemed contradictory, yet made perfect sense. Aofeng immediately deduced that it had to be Song Changfeng. He was the only person who, in the dogs’ eyes, was both unfamiliar and not entirely so. During the afternoon assessment, his scent had been imprinted in their memories, but the brief interaction wasn’t enough for him to be considered familiar.

When Song Changfeng stopped in front of Aofeng’s enclosure, he was met with a completely unsurprised gaze. Aofeng didn’t just look indifferent – he didn’t move a muscle, a stark contrast to the other dogs’ reactions.

Song Changfeng didn’t have a key to the kennel, so he could only stand outside and look in. He said nothing, standing there like a silent guardian. Aofeng didn’t understand what he wanted. Annoyed by the staring, he tucked his head under his curled-up body. He rolled his eyes, thinking how ridiculous this was. Was this guy here to apologize for something because Aofeng had performed too well in the assessment? But he hadn’t said a word this whole time.

If only he could talk, he’d ask the guy what he was staring at. And if he got a “What are you gonna do about it³?” in return, they could settle it with a proper fight.

After standing there for five or six minutes, Song Changfeng left without a word. On his way out, the barking resumed in full force, leaving Aofeng thoroughly exasperated. Just like that poem: You left quietly, just as you came quietly⁴. You waved your sleeve and took nothing with you – except you left all the damn noise behind for me.

…

“Today’s training exercise is Obstacle Jumping. Before we begin, we’ll have Comrade Song Changfeng and Aofeng demonstrate the jumping drills from the basic training phase,” Trainer Zhang Meng announced.

In the early stages of police dog training, the jumping exercises were fairly simple. Aofeng had tried them once or twice, understood what was required, and then stopped practicing. So giving a demonstration now wouldn’t be a problem.

Song Changfeng felt a twinge of doubt. The file he’d seen last night had left him deeply shaken. Still, the early-stage jumping exercises were quite simple. From what he had observed, Aofeng’s intelligence should be more than enough to handle them.

Aofeng followed Song Changfeng into the training area. After unfastening the leash from Aofeng’s harness, Song Changfeng gave the dog’s neck a couple of pats.

“Good boy, come on.” Song Changfeng clapped his hands to get Aofeng’s attention, then jogged forward a few steps. After covering a short distance, he suddenly raised one leg into the air, made an upward gesture with his hand, and called out, “Alright, jump!”

At the command, Aofeng pushed off with his front legs, kicked off with his hind legs, and leapt cleanly over Song Changfeng’s raised leg.

“Good!” Song Changfeng praised, then gave the command, “Sit.” Aofeng immediately sat down where he was. With his back to the dog, Song Changfeng bent forward, knees slightly bent, and called out again, “Jump.” Aofeng charged forward and sprang into the air, bounding over Song Changfeng’s back.

The two sets of movements flowed smoothly, executed with perfect precision.

Zhang Meng gave his approval and instructed them to return to their positions. Then he said, “The early jumping drills are relatively simple. With enough time, all police dogs can complete them through training. But now that we’re moving into systematic training, there’s a new word we need to add to our jumping drills: obstacles. As you all know, once our police dogs are fully trained, they’ll be deployed across various regions to assist in investigations and other tasks. The environments they’ll face won’t be smooth or predictable. That’s why, during training, we need to teach our dogs to adapt to different kinds of obstacles in advance. They need to develop conditioned reflexes. Got it?”

“Got it!” the trainers shouted in unison.

“Good. Now split into groups and begin training!”

With a wave of Zhang Meng’s hand, the Assistant Trainers immediately brought out several hurdle boards. These boards were adjustable, and for now, they were set to a height of sixty centimeters. That might not seem high for a person, but for a police dog, it wasn’t exactly low either. Take Aofeng for example: when standing on two legs, he was taller than the hurdle, but on all fours, he didn’t even reach its height.

Once a towering one meter eighty⁵, he had shrunk to less than sixty centimeters. The threefold difference was enough to make Aofeng want to cry. What pained him most was the realization that his peak height in this life would probably top out at around sixty-five centimeters.

Translator’s Notes