Before long, Zhang Zhaomu's voice rang out. "Duan Chan'er, come take a look."
"L-look at what?"
Duan Chan'er approached with hesitant steps and saw Zhang Zhaomu standing in front of a large green trash bin.
"What's wrong with the trash bin?" Duan Chan'er asked quietly.
"The sound came from in here." Zhang Zhaomu looked a little conflicted.
Although the lid was closed, the smell of all sorts of kitchen waste still seeped out, making waves of nausea roll through him.
Still, he gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and lifted the lid.
The bin was almost full of garbage bags, and the stench hit him in the face.
"Urgh-" Under the influence of his [Refined] persona, Zhang Zhaomu was already something of a clean freak. Now he couldn't hold it back and nearly threw up.
She really hadn't heard a thing, and her good mood, originally full of anticipation for delicious food, was now utterly ruined.
This made Duan Chan'er feel a little angry.
"Did you bring any tissues?" Zhang Zhaomu asked instead of answering.
"...Yes." Duan Chan'er still took a packet of tissues from her pocket and handed it over.
Zhang Zhaomu took it and wrapped his hand in tissues.
"Class monitor?!" Duan Chan'er was slightly startled.
Was it really necessary to go this far just for a prank?
Zhang Zhaomu ignored her, gritted his teeth, and reached straight into the bin, rummaging through it.
Then Duan Chan'er finally heard a faint whimper.
"There really is something?" She froze for a moment, then stopped caring about the stench and took two steps forward to stand beside Zhang Zhaomu.
Several of the garbage bags on top had already been pushed aside by Zhang Zhaomu, revealing two wet, sticky lumps.
She looked closely. They were actually two puppies.
"How can someone have so little civic decency?" She immediately frowned. "They look like they were only just born. How could anyone dump them straight into a trash bin!"
Zhang Zhaomu looked solemn. "Probably didn't want to keep them and couldn't find anyone to take them, so they just threw them away."
"That's so irresponsible!" Duan Chan'er's voice carried a note of anger as she looked at Zhang Zhaomu. "What do we do now?"
Zhang Zhaomu took out his phone and quickly searched.
"Looks like our county doesn't have any dedicated veterinary clinics. The pet shops handle that too, and they're all closed at this hour."
"I'll take them back, clean them up, and feed them something." He paused. "But it looks like they were abandoned quite a while ago. They're already very weak. I don't know if they'll survive."
He considered himself a fairly compassionate person. Having come across something like this, he really couldn't stand by with his hands tucked in his sleeves.
"I'll help too," Duan Chan'er said.
Zhang Zhaomu glanced at her. He didn't say anything pointless like, "It's fine, go enjoy your late-night snack. I can handle it myself." He simply nodded. "Okay."
He stared at the two little lives inside the trash bin, reached out tentatively, then drew his hand back.
"Class monitor, let me."
Duan Chan'er could see Zhang Zhaomu's dilemma.
The class monitor always looked fresh and clean. He was probably something of a clean freak, so making him do this with his own hands really was asking a bit much.
"No need." Zhang Zhaomu gritted his teeth.
His [Refined] persona was indeed resisting like mad, but Zhang Zhaomu wasn't about to leave this dirty work to a girl. After a moment's thought, he simply took off his T-shirt and carefully used it to lift them out.
Then he gave Duan Chan'er an apologetic look. "Sorry, I really couldn't find anything else that was reasonably clean."
"I understand." Duan Chan'er glanced at Zhang Zhaomu's upper body.
The class monitor looks a little thin...
Their barbecue plans had naturally gone up in smoke. As they headed back, Duan Chan'er asked, "Class monitor, have you ever had a pet?"
"No." Zhang Zhaomu shook his head.
He had always felt that only people who weren't fulfilled inside needed a pet's companionship. His own life was plenty full, anyway. He didn't even have enough free time for gaming, so how could he spare any attention for anything else?
"Neither have I," Duan Chan'er said softly.
"But when I was little, my grandma had a dog. I remember once I was gnawing on a chicken drumstick, and as soon as I lowered my hand, it bit right down on it, trying to snatch it away. I refused to give in, so I played tug-of-war with it..."
Zhang Zhaomu couldn't help laughing. "Then what? Did you win?"
"I was little back then. How could I beat it?" A hint of reminiscence appeared on Duan Chan'er's face. "So I cried all day, and Grandma punished it by not feeding it for a day."
"After that, it never tried to snatch food from my hands again. Every time I went back to Grandma's, it would even wag its tail to welcome me."
Zhang Zhaomu nodded. "Dogs really do understand people."
"Yeah." Duan Chan'er asked, "Do you like dogs?"
"Hmm..." Zhang Zhaomu lowered his head to look at the two little lives wrapped in his T-shirt. "They're all right."
He couldn't say he liked them. From the standpoint of his [Cat] persona, he even disliked them a little.
After all, when cats encountered creatures like dogs, unless they had grown up together and were already used to them, the claws came out as soon as they met.
And there was a little-known fact: unless the size difference was too great, an ordinary dog couldn't beat a cat...
Felines had far too much of an advantage in combat.
"Come to think of it, I don't think I have anything they can eat at home. What do newborn puppies need to be fed?" Zhang Zhaomu asked.
"Baby mammals obviously drink milk."
"Oh, right." Zhang Zhaomu also thought his question had been a little idiotic.
"But I think puppies can't digest the lactose in cow's milk. It can easily cause severe diarrhea or even death," Duan Chan'er said. "Goat's milk is best."
"Where are we going to find goat's milk at this hour..." Zhang Zhaomu scratched his head. "Would a convenience store sell it?"
Duan Chan'er said, "I have some at home."
Zhang Zhaomu froze for a moment. Would an ordinary household keep something like goat's milk around?
"I wanted to study the differences in taste between various kinds of milk a while ago, so I bought a bunch online." Seeing Zhang Zhaomu's expression, Duan Chan'er hurriedly explained.
"It's not just goat's milk. My fridge is full of all sorts of strange things I bought because I was curious about how they tasted."
"It's a shame I'm not that good at cooking. Otherwise, I feel like I'd be especially suited to being a food blogger!"
Zhang Zhaomu smiled. "If you really became a food blogger, you'd definitely blow up."
With Duan Chan'er's looks, even if she had no cooking skills whatsoever, she would have at least a million followers just by showing her face in her videos.
Duan Chan'er naturally understood what Zhang Zhaomu meant. She shook her head. "Even if I became a blogger, I'd only want to share the food itself. I wouldn't show my face."