134 Stray Dog (Part Two)

Soon, a crowd gathered around us, including his girlfriend. People began pointing fingers and accusing me, but I could only defend myself by saying, "This isn't my dog."

However, no one believed me. They chimed in, "If it's not your dog, why are you protecting it? Since you want to protect this dog, you have to take responsibility for it."

The young man whom I had kicked over shouted arrogantly, "This little dog just bit my girlfriend. If you want to claim this dog, you have to pay compensation to her."

I asked him where the dog had bitten her. Without missing a beat, he replied, "On my girlfriend's calf." I told his girlfriend to show her wound, but she was unwilling to do so. It was obvious that the dog hadn't actually bitten her at all.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I cut straight to the chase: "Cut the crap. Tell me, how much do you want in compensation?"

Hearing this, the young man made an exorbitant demand: "Pay ten thousand yuan for my girlfriend's emotional distress, and another ten thousand because you kicked and injured me just now."

I flew into a rage and cursed, "Bullshit! Why aren't you mentioning the fact that you just smashed a stick across my arm?" The young man retorted, "You brought that on yourself! I was hitting the dog, who told you to stick your nose into it?"

I couldn't help firing back, "I was kicking thin air, and you threw yourself into it! Can you blame me for that?"

Ironhead stepped in to mediate, "He hit you with a stick, and you kicked him. We're even now, so let's stop arguing, or this will go on forever!"

Others in the crowd chimed in to persuade us, "That's right. It's still the New Year season, and we all live in the same residential complex. It makes no sense to bicker like this. Just settle the matter quickly!"

Growing impatient, I said, "Fine! Take the money if you want it, or forget the whole thing!"

With that, I cradled the shivering puppy in my arms and turned to leave. Seeing this, the young man called out, "Fine, hand over the money, and I won't pursue the matter of your dog biting my girlfriend!"

I reached for my wallet, only to find I had just one thousand yuan inside, and my mobile phone wallet only held two thousand. That left me two thousand yuan short. Ironhead had been resting at home and had come out with Fatty to find me, so he hadn't brought any cash either.

The young man mocked, "In this day and age, you can't even scrape together a few thousand yuan? Why pretend to be rich?"

Embarrassed, I said, "Ironhead, go back and get four thousand yuan for me. Consider it a loan." Ironhead replied, "No problem, I still owe you a lot of money anyway!"

As he turned to head into the complex to get the money, Fatty parked the car. Seeing that Ironhead and I still hadn't gone inside, he walked over and found me holding the puppy amidst a quarrel. He asked, "What on earth is going on here?"

I didn't have time to explain, so Ironhead filled him in on what had happened. Fatty looked astonished and said, "Ah-Feng, you're actually trying to save this stray dog?"

I urged, "Fatty, did you bring any cash? Lend me some, and I'll pay you back later."

Fatty snapped irritably, "Are you out of your mind? This filthy stray dog doesn't even have two catties of meat on it. Even if I had money, I wouldn't lend it to you."

I cursed back, "What a load of rubbish! If you don't want to lend me money, fine, but spare me the nonsense."

The young man sneered, "You look all dressed up like a gentleman, yet you can't even scrape together a few thousand yuan. And look at the fair-weather friends you keep—not a single one is willing to lend you money. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Furious, I snapped, "Asshole! One more word of nonsense, and see if I don't beat you to a pulp!"

Ironhead tried to calm me down, "Ah-Feng, don't be impatient, I'll go get the money right now." Suddenly, a pure and melodious female voice chimed in, "There's no need. I'll give you his money..."

Hearing that vaguely familiar voice, I turned around in pleasant surprise. I hadn't noticed when a black Rolls-Royce Phantom had silently pulled up alongside us.

Ling Xue lowered the car window, tossed out ten thousand yuan bills, and said, "Keep the change." I stared in astonishment, "Ling Xue? It's you."

Ling Xue waved at me and said, "Feng, I love you! Remember, when the snowflakes drift down, I'll be waiting for you to come and marry me..."

The Rolls-Royce slowly drove away. Everyone stared at me in shock, never imagining that I would have such a gorgeous and wealthy girlfriend. Even Fatty and Ironhead were gaping at me in disbelief.

Fatty's jaw dropped, and he drooled as he muttered, "Whoa! You bastard, so you were trying to pursue such a wealthy girlfriend all along? No wonder you broke up with her before..."

I cursed, "Shut the hell up and close your stinking mouth!"

By then, the young man had snapped out of his shock and bent down to grab the money, but Fatty lunged forward and snatched it first. Fatty declared, "The ten thousand yuan tossed by the beauty belongs to us, not you. You only get..."

Although the young man was unwilling, he had no way to protest. After all, when Ling Xue threw the money, she hadn't specified that it was entirely for his compensation. Besides, at that moment, he didn't dare offend me.

Fatty tossed a portion of the cash to the young man and shoved the rest into his pocket. With a brazen grin, he said to me, "Ah-Feng, your girlfriend is worth at least billions. You certainly wouldn't care about pocket change like this, so I'll just hold onto it for safekeeping."

Too lazy to dignify him with a response, I gently stroked the puppy in my arms. The little dog gradually stopped trembling and began licking my clothes, clearly understanding that I had saved its life.

Amidst the stunned gazes of the onlookers, I carried the stray dog into the residential complex.

Seeing me cradle the filthy stray dog like that, Fatty exclaimed, "Ah-Feng, you really do have the airs of a rich man now. You're willing to pay for an unwanted stray dog, and you almost got into a fistfight over it."

I scolded, "What the hell do you know? If anyone else wanted this stray dog, I wouldn't have bothered! But since nobody wants it, I'm going to protect it well."

Suddenly, I thought of Ling Xue. Was her feeling for me perhaps similar to my feeling for this stray dog?

Fatty asked, "Ah-Feng, where are you planning to keep this little dog?"

Ironhead chimed in, "The apartment we rent is plenty big. Keeping a puppy won't be a problem at all. Don't worry, Ah-Feng, we'll take good care of it."

I replied, "You don't need to worry about it. From now on, I'll take it wherever I go, because it is my shadow."