Chapter 24: So, Love Fades¹

Obstacle Jumping doesn’t seem all that difficult for police dogs. But in actual training, it’s full of surprises.

Some dogs run up just fine, but the moment they reach the hurdle, they instinctively slam on the brakes, afraid of crashing into it. Others can jump, but their form is poor, barely lifting off the ground and often knocking the board over. After a few failed attempts, they seem to develop a mental block, and their jumps become even more frantic. Then there are those that start running in circles, or dogs still stuck in the previous training drill, sniffing around aimlessly.

The Trainers could only sigh and patiently guide them, using commands and rewards to correct mistakes and reinforce good habits.

If the officers at the Public Security Bureau saw this chaotic scene, they’d be stunned. The police dogs they work with are top-notch, following orders to the letter, executing tasks with precision, often appearing more serious than humans.

But as the saying goes, “One minute on stage takes ten years of practice².” Before they’re fully trained, police dogs are like unruly children, carefree and undisciplined. Without the Trainers’ relentless daily drills, they could never become qualified police dogs.

Song Changfeng used to believe that Trainers played the dominant role in the training process, that it was their job to drill everything into the dogs’ heads. But facing Aofeng, he realized the Trainer seemed more like a supporting role. Because the moment he gave the command and let go, Aofeng launched into Obstacle Jumping on his own.

He took a few running steps, charged toward the hurdle, then leapt into the air, clearing it in the blink of an eye.

“Woof?” Aofeng barked at the buddy still standing dumbly nearby. He’d jumped. Now what?

Snapping out of it, Song Changfeng praised Aofeng and guided him to jump back. Aofeng once again took a running start, leapt, and cleared the hurdle. Then he sat down right where he landed, waiting for Song Changfeng’s next instruction.

Song Changfeng had him repeat the jump a few more times. While Aofeng trained, he reached into his pocket and touched the still-unopened packet of dog biscuits, unsure what to say.

“Good boy, one last jump, then we’ll rest!”

After a while, seeing that Aofeng was getting tired, Song Changfeng coaxed him gently. But before he could even give the usual short command or accompanying hand gesture, Aofeng had already jumped. And after clearing the hurdle, he immediately flopped down to rest, watching the others train.

Song Changfeng was a bit stunned. That was a long sentence, not the usual short command, and yet Aofeng understood it?

Normally, police dogs at this stage can only comprehend simple commands like “Sit,” “Heel,” or “Down.” For more complex training, they need both verbal cues and hand signals. In other words, just saying the command isn’t enough; only when paired with the right gesture can they understand. It’s only in the later stages of training that they gradually wean off hand signals.

And no matter what stage they’re at, commands must always be short and clear. Otherwise, the dogs won’t understand.

To test his theory, Song Changfeng tried saying a few more things. He embedded commands into full sentences, sometimes even combining multiple actions, and Aofeng completed them all with precision. And because Song Changfeng kept interrupting his rest, Aofeng even gave him a very human-like look of annoyance.

Song Changfeng felt a surge of excitement. Aofeng’s self-control and intelligence far exceeded his expectations.

Sensing the gleam of excitement in Song Changfeng’s eyes, Aofeng felt a chill run down his spine. Was this guy getting too worked up over his performance? The whole reason he’d been working so hard these past few days was to show off in front of Song Changfeng, to make him see him in a new light. After all, this guy had looked down on him before.

Back when he trained with Dezi, he’d occasionally imitate Shan Dian’s behavior, trying to act like a normal dog so Dezi wouldn’t suspect anything. After all, Dezi was handling two dogs alone, and too stark a contrast would raise questions. Judging by Song Changfeng’s expression now, it looked like he was thoroughly impressed. That meant he could afford to dial it back a bit.

As Aofeng plotted his future training strategy, he glanced at Song Changfeng out of the corner of his eye, only to find that he’d already walked over to Zhang Meng. They were a fair distance away, but Aofeng could vaguely hear Song Changfeng saying something like “intensify… start early…” Zhang Meng didn’t seem to agree, frowning and shaking his head like a rattle drum³. Then Song Changfeng said something else, with words like “stay behind… special training… pass the test.” Zhang Meng hesitated, his expression uncertain, and kept glancing over at Aofeng.

Was this about him? Aofeng’s interest was piqued. He really wanted to know what Song Changfeng was saying to Zhang Meng. But they were too far away to hear clearly. If only he were a bit closer…

Then his ears twitched. Wait a second, he was a police dog, not a human. If he wanted to eavesdrop, why not just walk over? Who would suspect an innocent, adorable dog?

He quickly got up and trotted over to them, tail wagging, putting on his most cheerful, carefree demeanor.

Unfortunately, just as he bounced over, Zhang Meng simply said, “Alright,” and walked off toward the training field.

Aofeng’s doggy face fell. He immediately turned and walked away, leaving Song Changfeng standing there with his hand half-raised, stunned that the dog had just left again.

…

“Riiiing…”

A pleasant bell chimed, signaling the end of the morning training session. Aofeng had been jumping around all morning, and his breakfast was long burned off. He didn’t have the nerve to ask Song Changfeng for food, and it wouldn’t be right to go begging Dezi again, so all his hopes were pinned on lunch.

“Fall in!”

Sure enough, with a sharp whistle from Zhang Meng, everyone quickly gathered up front. In no time, they were lined up in two neat rows.

“At ease! Attention! That’s it for this morning’s training. You’ve all seen how your dogs handled the obstacles. This afternoon, I want you to focus on improving in that area. I want to see progress. Can you do that?” Zhang Meng barked out.

“We can!” the Trainers roared, their voices hoarse with passion.

Some of the police dogs couldn’t help but bark along, as if voicing their own determination.

“Good! That’s the kind of fighting spirit I want to see!” Zhang Meng grinned with satisfaction. “Morning training is over! Song Changfeng and Aofeng, stay behind! Everyone else is dismissed!”

Aofeng had already lifted a paw, ready to head toward the cafeteria. The moment he heard his name, he froze in place.

Why did he have to stay?! He hadn’t slacked off today!

Dezi looked a little worried. He led Shan Dian over to Zhang Meng and asked something in a low voice. After getting a reply, he froze for a second, first in disbelief, then with growing excitement. He turned to Aofeng and shouted, “Good luck!” before happily walking off with Shan Dian.

Good luck? My ass!

Aofeng watched the idiot Dezi and Shan Dian walk away with deadpan eyes, itching to flip them off. He knew it—love never lasts. They had promised to find him a perfect, devoted poop-scooper⁴, and what did he get instead? Extra training?

“The hurdle boards are all set. When do we start?” Zhang Meng asked.

Aofeng turned his head and saw the Assistant Trainers had lined up the single hurdle boards from earlier into a long row, each spaced about four or five meters apart. Was this… was he supposed to jump them all? Like some kind of flying dog?

“Now,” Song Changfeng replied, walking over to Aofeng. He crouched down and looked him straight in the eyes. “Aofeng, listen. You’re going to jump over each board, one by one. Finish the last one, and you’re done. If you make it in one go, we’ll go eat. If not, we’ll keep practicing until you do. Got it?”

Was that a threat? Aofeng thought grimly. What did he mean, keep practicing until success? No food at noon and endless training? What kind of monster says that to an adorable little dog? Doesn’t his conscience hurt?

Wait a second!

Why was he speaking so seriously to him? Did he actually think Aofeng could understand?

Sure, Old Master Shen and Dezi had talked to him before, but Aofeng always felt like they were just talking to themselves. It was more like they needed a listener to vent to, not someone to respond. But now, Song Changfeng was staring straight into his eyes, like he truly believed Aofeng could understand every word.

Had he been exposed? Aofeng was a bit startled. Or maybe… Song Changfeng was testing him?

So now what? Should he play dumb, or show off a little intelligence? What if they saw through the dog facade and realized he was actually a human soul? Would they ship him off to a lab?

Aofeng fell deep into thought. After a long moment, he made up his mind. So what if he was exposed? Most people wouldn’t jump to that conclusion anyway. Worst case, he’d just start over in another life. The kid was already suspicious. If he didn’t play along, wouldn’t he just get tormented every day?

With that heavy thought in mind, he took off running, leapt into the air, and cleared one hurdle after another. On the very first day of training, he successfully completed the Obstacle Jumping assessment.

Truth be told, Aofeng had only himself to blame for being out of the loop. If he’d spent less time watching gaming streams in his past life and more time on pet videos, he’d know that pets these days were ridiculously smart. Compared to them, he was seriously underperforming.

How smart, you ask? In the words of internet users: “During college entrance exams, it sat in front of me⁵.”

Translator’s Notes