Ate SHI Again

Liu Chang'an was about to head to the market when he saw Lu Si'en come trotting downstairs, wagging his head and tail. The dog ingratiatingly licked Liu Chang'an's shoes. Liu Chang'an patted its head, and Lu Si'en immediately stuck out its tongue and licked even more excitedly, even dribbling a few drops of urine.

The weather had been cold lately, and Zhou Shuling worried that Lu Si'en would be too cold sleeping in its doghouse beneath the stairs, so she had kept it indoors. Every morning when she got up, she opened the door and let Lu Si'en go downstairs to relieve itself.

After licking its master, Lu Si'en ran to the wall and sniffed around. It warily stared at the traces in the dirt, barked wildly twice, then ran back and lay down beside Liu Chang'an.

"Go get the leash," Liu Chang'an said to Lu Si'en.

Lu Si'en went upstairs to fetch the leash in its mouth. Liu Chang'an had not kept a dog for a long time before Lu Si'en, but he still knew dogs fairly well. Most dogs had a strong sense of hierarchy. In Lu Si'en's eyes, for instance, Liu Chang'an was the master of the highest rank.

According to Liu Chang'an's analysis, Lu Si'en considered Liu Chang'an to hold the highest status, followed by Zhou Dongdong, then Zhou Shuling, then itself. Shangguan Dandan ranked lowest of all. This could be seen from how Lu Si'en usually paid little attention to Shangguan Dandan.

When a family kept a dog, if they found that the dog was especially obedient when one family member ordered it around but ignored them otherwise, it was most likely because the dog thought their status was too low—perhaps even lower than its own.

Lu Si'en's belief that Shangguan Dandan ranked even lower