Yan Junye stayed out of it, eating the roast duck Chang Yu had secretly slipped him beneath the table.
It wasn't just roast duck. Chang Yu had filled a whole plate for him, and he enjoyed the food so much that he completely forgot his troubles.
But as he ate, he sensed many pairs of eyes gleaming at him in the darkness under the table.
More precisely, they were staring at the food on his plate.
"Hehe, I've got some and you don't. Go act cute for your owners. I'm not giving you any."
His attempt to divert their attention proved completely useless. The dogs drooled all over the floor, their eyes filled with longing for the food in front of him.
After spending so much time with Chang Yu, Yan Junye's obsession with cleanliness had inexplicably grown worse too.
Eating in this environment put him off his food, so he quietly retreated from beneath the table.
Light returned to his field of vision. The next second, the dogs under the table made such a commotion that they nearly overturned it.
Think about it: with a husky that could tear a whole house apart, wouldn't demolishing a table leg be child's play?
The owners began shouting over one another for their dogs to stop fighting, urging them to get along.
Only Yan Junye jumped onto a chair, patted Chang Yu, who sat quietly watching the show, with his paw, and barked.
[Get me another plate. The last one got dirty. Boohoo, this fierce dog is sad.]
Chang Yu couldn't act as though he understood dog language yet. He looked down at the dog hair flying everywhere and said quietly:
"Your food definitely won't survive this. I'll get you another plate."
Yan Junye nodded his canine head in satisfaction. He watched eagerly as Chang Yu picked up food with his chopsticks, silently praying.
-"I want shrimp, crab, spicy stir-fried beef, roast duck, and duck blood stew. Lots of everything!"
Chang Yu took some of everything anyway. This dog wasn't picky at all.
Afraid the other dogs would covet the food again, and also afraid it would upset the other pets' stomachs, Chang Yu held Xiaotu on his lap to let him eat.
As for the plate, it was Chang Yu's own, which he had barely used.
There was no point finding it disgusting. After all, the chopsticks he had just used to serve the food were ones he had already eaten with.
Yan Junye ate to his heart's content. With his belly full, he began picking out a corner to sleep in. Only then did the rowdy dogs led by the husky settle down.
All the dogs had been scolded into lowering their heads. Only Xi Wu's husky held his head high in stubborn defiance, still howling.
"Golden retriever, I take back what I said before. My owner isn't good to me at all! Your owner treats you the best!"
"Also, my owner has never let me eat the food on the table! I've wanted to try it for ages!"
"When I sneak some myself, he even hits me. There's no justice!"
Yan Junye: "..." For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
The dogs beside him all cast envious looks his way. Yan Junye could only laugh awkwardly and say, "Of course. My owner treats me best."
Envy shone in the bichon's obscured eyes. "How did you get your owner to like you so much?"
Many inquisitive gazes turned toward the golden retriever. The envied Yan Junye couldn't help raising his head. Sure enough, being favored made you the center of attention anywhere.
He hadn't expected that, after being unfavored as a human, he would get a taste of being favored among dogs once he became one.
His fluffy tail wagged uncontrollably as he declared shamelessly, "Of course it's because of my excellent canine virtues, like not wrecking the house, not eating poop, not digging through the trash, and not liking to sniff dogs' butts."
The dogs sank into thought.
Could their owners consider sniffing butts in greeting a bad thing?
Then next time, they would just sniff in secret.
Then they would see whether their owners would let them eat at the table and give them food from it.
Chang Yu looked at the golden retriever in the corner, who radiated haughty pride.
Why had he suddenly changed his tune and started praising him?
And as for those behaviors he had bragged about to call himself a good dog, Chang Yu didn't acknowledge a single one.
Except the last one, sniffing butts.
But he didn't care whether he sniffed butts anyway.
The dogs finally quieted down completely, and Xi Wu finally beat obedience into the husky, who never showed any sign of admitting defeat.
When the tablecloth was lifted, nothing looked amiss apart from the broken bowls.
Who knew how those dogs had started fighting?
Only after calling a server in to clean up did Xi Wu resume what had been interrupted at the start.
"My wife loves cats. Whenever she sees stray cats on the street, she can't help feeling sad."
At that, the husky started howling uncontrollably again, kicking his paws in displeasure. One look made it clear he was the disobedient sort.
"You love cats, but you don't love a cute, capable big dog like me! I won't accept it!"
Xi Wu grabbed the husky's muzzle. Although he couldn't understand him, he could sense that the husky was cursing him.
Once things quieted down, Xi Wu continued, "We're currently running a program to catch and sterilize stray cats."
"If there are stray cats in your residential complexes, don't miss any. Bring them to my pet hospital to be sterilized."
Then he turned a calculating gaze toward the golden retriever. "Chang Yu, you can bring your golden retriever to me to be neutered too. I won't charge you."
Yan Junye and Chang Yu: "..."
-"Sure, I wrongly accused you of catching and killing stray cats, but you can't keep eyeing my balls!"
If Yan Junye's canine glare could kill, Xi Wu would have died tens of thousands of times already.
Yan Junye seemed to finally understand why that stupid husky had chased after him to sniff his butt while saying that one cut would get it over with.
-"But catching cats is something I can't do. Of course the middle of the night is for sleeping."
He had just raised his paws to cover his ears and sleep in peace when Xi Wu's exceptionally appreciative eyes appeared before him, startling Yan Junye so badly that he nearly slashed him with a paw.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
[What do you want? I'm warning you, don't get any ideas about me!]
Xi Wu nodded in considerable satisfaction, then turned to ask Chang Yu, "Could you lend me your golden retriever for a few nights?"
Back at the bar, he had noticed that this golden retriever was especially clever, as though he could understand human speech.
Trained dogs really did understand people better.
Combined with the golden retriever's agile movements he had seen last night, this made him all the more convinced that the dog's hunting skills had to be insanely good. He would catch stray cats in no time.
Chang Yu guessed that Xi Wu wanted Xiaotu to catch stray cats, but Xiaotu really might... not be up to it.
He couldn't stay up late at all, and he was lazy too. He simply wouldn't run.
Yan Junye shook his head frantically as well, his face clearly saying, I can't do it. Please find someone more capable.
Seeing the golden retriever's expression, Xi Wu clapped excitedly. "He's so smart. He can definitely do it!"
Yan Junye: "..." I am smart, but you're a little too stupid to save.
Seeing that Xi Wu wouldn't give up until he had borrowed him, Chang Yu figured that once Xi Wu saw Xiaotu's performance, no further words would be needed. He might even beg Xiaotu to leave with tears in his eyes.
He agreed. "We can give it a try tonight."
Yan Junye felt as though a bolt from the blue had struck his canine life.
He howled curses at Xi Wu and Chang Yu in his heart.
The dinner soon broke up.
Originally, only the two dogs and two men were supposed to leave together, but the rest of the Chang Family eagerly brought their dogs along, hoping their dogs would perform well and earn them an opportunity to cooperate with the Xi Family.
Late that quiet night, after Yan Junye had yawned a hundred and eight times, a calico cat finally appeared in the bushes.
The husky charged out, bursting with boundless energy.
In contrast, the golden retriever beside him hadn't even reached the calico before his whole body toppled straight over.
Before long, snores could be heard.
Everyone who had been planning to watch the golden retriever show his skills: "..."