Awoo… The poor dog howled all the way until they reached their destination.
Several times, Yao Tiao tried both soft and hard approaches, patiently coaxing the canine by feeding it food and threatening the little thing. Nevertheless, it still refused to stop whining.
Even the cab driver was rendered speechless by its whines. If it had not been for the fact that she could not possibly stuff its mouth with something, she would surely have done so to get it to shut up.
“Thank you, sir.” The woman paid her cab fare, alighted from the cab, and swiftly entered the bar with the dog.
Upon entering, she noticed that Ji Sichen was nowhere in sight. He was not manning the counter either.
She placed the little mutt on the sofa before walking away to pour herself a cup of water. She did not untie the scarf at once for fear that it would misbehave. How was she going to catch it if it started running about and chewing on things?
Even all tied-up on the sofa, Red Bean did not stop struggling. The sudden detection of a familiar scent in the air made him stop wriggling, though. It arched its back toward a corner of the sofa until he managed to sniff the familiar smell coming from the jacket lying there. Only then did it obediently lie still.
When Yao Tiao came back with her water, a surprised smile spread across her face as she spotted the dog, which remained motionless.
Is it finally behaving now?
“Are you behaving now?” She extended a hand to rub its furry head before freeing it from the scarf binding it and placing a dog biscuit before its mouth.
Red Bean shifted its head to one side and ignored her.
“Don’t you wanna eat?”
She found the sight of the little mutt throwing a tantrum amusing as she turned her head and stuffed the biscuit into her own mouth. Only after munching on for some time did she sense that something was off.
Damn it. How could I forget that this is dog food that I’m holding?! I must be mad!
To think I finally tasted dog food[1] for real today.
Her phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated.
“Hello, Xiao Ruo?”
“Have you picked up the dog?”
Yao Tiao put her phone on speaker mode and placed it on the coffee table before getting herself another cup of water.
“Yep. It’s with me.”
Red Bean’s ears twitched and perked instantly when it heard Ye Erruo’s voice. Its bright eyes stared straight at the phone on the table.
Awoo… Awoo… It began howling pitifully with its head raised using all its might, as though it was crying for help.
“Yao Tiao, why do I find this dog’s howling so familiar?” Ye Erruo’s question could be heard from the other end of the line.
“Familiar? Don’t all dogs sound the same?”
“I guess so.”
“What’s up?” She placed the empty cup back on the coffee table after finishing the water in it.
As though it was making a complaint, Red Bean began whining even louder.
“Behave,” she told it sternly.
Ye Erruo’s lips twitched. “Can’t you be a little gentler, Yao Tiao?”
“The little one must be feeling uncomfortable in a new environment. It has been yapping non-stop ever since we boarded the cab. It keeps trying to escape and refuses to eat the food I give it. Since it refuses to behave, I’ll starve it for a couple of days. By then, he’ll be starving for food.”
The reason the mutt isn’t eating the food must be because it isn’t hungry yet. However, if it still doesn’t eat after so much coaxing, then I’ll reach the end of my wits.
I can’t possibly pry open its mouth and force-feed it food, can I?
“He’s paying you ten million yuan for petsitting his dog. You’d better keep it safe and sound.”
“…”
Awooo…
“Stop howling,” said Yao Tiao somewhat exasperatedly.
“Will it die in your hands? Remember that it’s someone else’s precious pet you’re taking care of…”
“It can’t be so easily killed, can it? I’ll let it acclimatize itself to the environment and then try to coax it into eating something.”
If this little thing continued yelping, they would both go crazy.
[1] Dog food in Chinese also means mushiness.