"Last night, my master had me catch the stray cats in the neighborhood."
Cats only roamed widely in the dead of night, making it easier for him to catch them all at once.
Hearing that, Yan Junye realized they had been catching and killing stray cats.
Those poor kitties.
"Why were you catching kitties?"
The husky licked his paws. He had caught cats last night and gotten several scratches from their claws.
"Because my mistress likes cats."
Yan Junye: "..." What kind of twisted liking was that?
He understood absolutely nothing about the lives and tastes of the rich.
The husky had no idea how cruel what he had done was. He was even in the mood to sniff the golden retriever's rear.
He had wanted to sniff it last time, but this golden retriever had refused no matter what. He really didn't fit in with the pack.
"One cut, and those kitties don't feel a thing."
He kept following behind the golden retriever, trying to sniff the place hidden by his tail. "Want to go experience it? It's very quick and satisfying."
Yan Junye: "..." He couldn't bear another word.
Protecting his backside and his doggy life came first. All four paws hurried him over to Chang Yu.
If he went, with the husky and Xi Wu included, he would have to deal with two dog-pestering menaces.
He would rather deal with Chang Yu alone, emotionally unstable as he was.
Chang Yu had listened for quite a while without getting any particularly useful information. Catching stray cats didn't even qualify as idle gossip in their wealthy circle.
He focused his attention back on Xi Wu. "What was that major project you mentioned, Mr. Xi?"
Xi Wu stroked his husky's head. "I see you've gotten a pet recently too. Any interest in the pet industry?"
Chang Yu had no interest in catching and killing animals.
Even though he was facing a wealthy man, he refused coldly. "No."
Yan Junye silently gave Chang Yu a thumbs-up.
-"What backbone! Looks like President Chang doesn't just bully the weak. He bullies everyone equally!"
Chang Yu couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. Nothing about that sounded like praise.
Who had he bullied?
Xi Wu didn't press the matter either. He deliberately gave him a meaningful look and changed the subject.
"Did you see anything last night? If you did, I can explain."
"No." Chang Yu hadn't even gone over there.
Besides, how would he dare say he had?
Xi Wu was a property developer in the wealthy district. It went without saying how rich someone who built houses there was-he was practically the richest of the rich.
And Xi Wu's reputation was one of the best in the wealthy district.
He was outgoing and unpretentious, devoted to his wife, and had never been involved in any romantic scandals.
In short, it was best not to provoke him if possible.
Xi Wu's gaze turned to the golden retriever lying there again. "He's a year old, isn't he? Aren't you planning to neuter him?"
Yan Junye raised his eyes slightly to the left, his doggy eyes filled with murderous intent.
He had already covered that spot with his tail. Why was this man still thinking about neutering him?
-"I think you're trying to take my doggy life because I caught you with your secret last night!"
-"Could Xi Wu be impotent, and now whenever he sees a creature with balls that he can control, he wants to cut those things off?"
Yan Junye looked to Chang Yu for help.
-"If it comes to that, a pedigreed dog like me will just have to become a stray!"
Chang Yu silently sized Xi Wu up. He was in his fifties; impotence was perfectly normal.
He naturally withdrew his gaze and answered, "We can discuss neutering later."
Xi Wu expressed his disappointment, but even at the end, his eyes refused to leave the golden retriever. He had seen just how agile the golden retriever had been last night.
Chang Yu had already stood up and called his secretary to see their guest out. Continuing this conversation would be bad for both man and dog.
Xi Wu didn't keep pressuring his junior. Before leaving, he lowered his eyes and gave the golden retriever on the floor a look full of confidence.
Yan Junye had a feeling nothing good would come of this.
Bad premonitions always came true. The next second, Chang Yu's phone rang. It was Chang Liao.
"Son, it's not every day Mr. Xi invites our family to dinner. Make sure you bring your dog tonight!"
"..."
Yan Junye felt he shouldn't have gotten greedy last night. Sooner or later, it would cost him his doggy life.
He was just a dog! Was it really necessary to deal such a ruthless blow to a cute big dog like him?
After hanging up, Chang Yu patted the golden retriever's head. "Will you dare eat extra again?"
"Woof, woof, woof!"
[You still haven't given me the roast duck you promised last time! I want it today!]
Chang Yu: "..." Even in the face of life and death, eating still came first.
"I'll take you to the restaurant tonight for roast duck on Xi Wu's tab."
Yan Junye: "..." Why did it keep sounding like Chang Yu was saying Xi Wu would be treating him to his last meal tonight?
-"Can't you just keep loving an adorable doggo? Hmph!"
There were quite a few people in the restaurant's private room that evening. Some relatives of the Chang Family had also come to make connections with the Xi Family.
Knowing that Xi Wu's family liked animals, they had brought practically all their dogs along to build closer ties.
The other dogs gathered to sniff each other's butts in greeting, while Yan Junye sat beside Chang Yu, not fitting in with the pack.
He didn't dare leave Chang Yu's side, afraid that one careless moment would cost him his doggy life.
Yet these dogs insisted on coming over to him for gossip, even calling him the melon king of dogs.
No matter how Yan Junye heard it, that title didn't sound very flattering.
But since they had all gathered around, and he had already ruled Xi Wu out for needing a capable dog, he still had to find his next owner quickly.
After looking around, he thought the bichon frise's owner seemed pretty good.
He wore a white shirt, his rolled-up sleeves revealing fair wrists. He seemed clean and fair from the inside out.
He asked the bichon frise, "Does your owner have any bad habits?"
The bichon frise shook his fluffy, downy head. "My owner doesn't have any bad habits, but I heard there's something off about his parentage."
Yan Junye grew interested. "Oh? What is it?"
He had a vague feeling there was a huge melon here.
The bichon frise widened his eyes, almost hidden beneath his white fluff, and earnestly gathered his words.
"My owner is the child of Chang Yu's maternal grandmother and Chang Yu's paternal grandfather's older brother. Afterward, to hide the scandal, Liao Mei and Chang Liao raised him as their adopted son."
His tail swished. "In public, my owner calls Chang Yu's maternal grandmother Grandma too, but in private, he's forced to call her Mom."
He had heard all this from the family's previous dog.
But since he was always at home, hearing his owner call the same elderly woman both Grandma and Mom had pretty much confirmed that the gossip was true.
Yan Junye only understood after sorting through those blood relations in his head again, and declared that this family melodrama was truly shocking for a dog.
Wealthy families really did have no shortage of secrets.
Not just Yan Junye-even Chang Yu himself hadn't known his family had such a huge melon.
He had always thought Chang Yiyuan wasn't related to their family by blood and was simply a child adopted from an orphanage.
It turned out to be a mess the older generation had created.
Noticing Chang Yu looking over, Chang Yiyuan smiled back.
Watching their eyes meet, Yan Junye thought that if Chang Yu learned the truth, he would very likely target the bichon frise's owner.
The assets of the Chang Family and the Liao Family were no small sum.
No one would want to give half away to someone who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Yan Junye didn't ask the bichon frise any more questions.
It wasn't that he looked down on the bichon frise's owner. Rather, even if he went to his home, wouldn't he still not have left the Chang Family?
If Chang Yu changed his mind someday, he could just take him back. No, if he was leaving, he had to go far away.
His big, round eyes surveyed everyone present. They looked somewhat like Chang Yu, so everyone seated there tonight might be from the Chang Family.
Giving up hope of finding a new owner that day, he lowered his head onto the floor and asked the corgi beside him dejectedly,
"Why do you think the Wu Family catches kitties? Kitties are so cute, and I'm cute too."
The corgi was wiggling his heart-shaped butt, begging his owner for the delicious-smelling food on the table. At the question, he spared a moment to answer him.
"Cute doesn't put food on the table. Rich people have the biggest say."
Just like him right now.
Yan Junye gave a dazed "Oh," then said, "But what good does wiggling your butt on the floor do? You have to put your paws on your owner's thigh and make him notice you."
Feeling the corgi's piercing stare after he said that, Yan Junye looked down at the corgi's legs, only one-fifth the length of his own.
"Sorry, I forgot your legs are too short to reach."
Even angry, the pitiful corgi could only turn his heart-shaped butt toward Yan Junye.
Only after the corgi left in a huff did realization dawn on Yan Junye.
Right! Why had he been so unambitious back then, wanting to turn into a pet dog?
If he had dreamed big back then and wished to become an ignorant, uneducated rich second-generation heir, wouldn't he already be lying flat and rotting away now?!
Yan Junye shook his head in sheer regret, suddenly feeling as though he had missed out on hundreds of millions.
Even if those hundreds of millions were imaginary, that still didn't stop his heart from aching.
During dinner, Xi Wu began grandly introducing his pet business.