Chapter 383: Xiao Hua

Xiao Hua hadn't been wronged for long; just after walking out of the big courtyard not far, A Huang jumped down from the dog's back and ran back to the courtyard. It doesn't usually leave the courtyard, nor does it run around everywhere—it only jumped onto the dog's back after seeing Zheng Tan's behavior and followed to learn.

Jingzhang didn't stay long either; upon seeing a little Pekingese, it chased after the Pekingese. Zheng Tan always felt Jingzhang had taken the wrong womb—it should have been a dog. As for Da Pang, at the fork between the path to the courtyard and the main campus road, it jumped down, then found a tree to climb up and sit, waiting for the elderly lady who went out visiting neighbors to return.

Thus, while Li Lao Tou slowly walked Xiao Hua to Xiqu Dayuan, the dog's back had only Zheng Tan left.

Xiqu Dayuan also had many pet dogs; upon seeing Xiao Hua they barked, all being small breeds like Chihuahuas and Pekingeses. Don't be fooled by their fierce barking—once unleashed, they dare not come forward. Relying on their owners' power, they act tough at the doorstep; that's the dogs' philosophy of life.

One or two cats lounged in the trees, ignoring the surrounding dogs' barks, lazily gazing toward Xiao Hua and Zheng Tan. Those who knew Zheng Tan wouldn't come over to provoke, and those who didn't dare not approach either, given the big dog nearby; they also couldn't be bothered to come down from the trees.

Zhuo Xiao Mao was reading at home when the sound came; grabbing a telescope, she ran to the balcony to look, then said to Xiao Zhuo: "Mom, Hei Ge and Xiao Hua are here—I'm going down to play."

Since Li Lao Tou often walks the dog here, some people in Xiqu Dayuan have a deep impression of this large dog whose size and name don't match at all, though everyone knows its temperament is fine—it doesn't fight other dogs and is good with children. Zhuo Xiao Mao has even ridden it. So whenever Xiao Hua comes over, Zhuo Xiao Mao goes to play; now that Zheng Tan has also come over, Zhuo Xiao Mao wants to go down even more.

Xiao Zhuo wasn't at ease letting him go down alone, so after telling the nanny, she also went downstairs.

The kids in the courtyard all love playing ball with Xiao Hua, because Xiao Hua won't bite their balls to pieces, and someone in the courtyard also keeps a black-backed dog that loves to play ball. But the courtyard kids never play with it. Because many kids in Xiqu Dayuan know that if they throw a ball at that dog, their ball won't come back. It's not that the black-backed dog wants to monopolize the ball; it often bites down with its teeth, and with a "puchi" sound the ball gets punctured. Once Zheng Tan saw a middle school student playing basketball in Xiqu Dayuan throw the ball over, and the basketball went flat under the dog's teeth.

Standing in the shade, children from Xiqu Dayuan came out to play with Xiao Hua; some kids even climbed onto Xiao Hua's back, treating it as a giant plush toy.

After coming down, Zhuo Xiao Mao didn't join them but ran to sit beside Zheng Tan, chatting about the movie she'd seen a few days earlier; this little rascal couldn't help laughing when mentioning Luo Na De drinking Zheng Tan's paw-washing water.

Xiao Zhuo stood under a nearby tree, smiling and watching, not coming over to interrupt Zhuo Xiao Mao's talk.

No matter what others think, Zhuo Xiao Mao is convinced that Zheng Tan is the one acting in the movie, though others just take it as child's talk and don't take it seriously.

After Zhuo Xiao Mao finished talking about Zheng Tan's movie, she went on to talk about Xiao Hua.

"Hei Ge, what's inside the little barrel Xiao Hua wears around its neck? Mom says it's liquor, but I don't believe it." Zhuo Xiao Mao leaned close to Zheng Tan's ear and whispered: "I've touched it once, but before I could open it Xiao Hua pushed me away. Still, there's definitely no liquor inside—judging by its weight, it's not empty, nor does it hold liquid."

Many know that in some illustrations, Saint Bernard dogs always have a small oval wooden barrel hanging from their necks, which is also their classic image. Some say the barrel holds liquor to wipe down and warm stranded mountain travelers; legend has it that Saint Bernards were once used to rescue travelers in snowy terrain, and the liquor in the barrel could warm those trapped by avalanches, spurring their will to survive. Of course, others say the little wooden barrel is merely a distinctive decoration.

Li Lao Tou on a whim gave Xiao Hua a little barrel to wear; usually, besides Li Lao Tou and a few people very familiar with Xiao Hua, the dog doesn't like others touching that barrel, which contains some of Li Lao Tou's medicines.

Elderly folks often have such ailments—sometimes they forget to bring their medicine or other emergency supplies—so Li Lao Tou started using this little barrel.

Such a big dog carrying a medicine-filled little barrel doesn't feel burdened; after wearing it for years, Xiao Hua is already accustomed. Kids who love playing with Xiao Hua have been told not to touch the barrel—if they do, Xiao Hua gets angry, though it won't bite, it will push them away with its mouth.

Therefore, when at Dongqu Dayuan, Li Lao Tou would boast with others about how proud he was of his dog.

Seeing Zhuo Xiao Mao's curiosity about the barrel on Xiao Hua's neck, Zheng Tan wondered which day he'd open it to show her.

Here Zhuo Xiao Mao and Zheng Tan were chatting about Xiao Hua, while over there Xiao Hua had already been led away by Li Lao Tou, accompanied by two old men heading toward the courtyard exit, presumably to do something outside the school.

Some kids who hadn't had enough fun, when their parents pulled them away, were still negotiating, saying they wanted to keep a Xiao Hua.

Although the school has places to walk dogs, if a permit could be obtained the dogs would be obedient and the residents wouldn't complain, and Saint Bernards aren't known for barking. The problem is, Xiao Hua's huge size makes it obvious it's a big eater; without some financial means one couldn't really keep such a big creature, plus it drools and sheds enough to be a hassle. Li Lao Tou and his peers are retired and have nothing to do, but for working people who can't even look after their kids, let alone a dog—let alone such a big one!!

Keeping a dog? Not a chance!

Everyone thinks that, but when facing the kids they always come up with other excuses to dispel the idea.

Zheng Tan has good hearing; listening to those parents making up excuses, he finds it amusing inside.

Just as he was quietly amused, he heard a bang from the gate of Xidayuan leading outside the campus; then many people there started shouting, as if some accident had occurred.

Some parents, seeing the situation was wrong, hurriedly took their children home and locked them in, then went to check it out.

Xiao Zhuo also had Zhuo Xiao Mao go upstairs. He had originally wanted Zheng Tan to go home too, but Zheng Tan wanted to go see what had happened over there, hearing Xiao Hua's cries.

Seeing that Zheng Tan wouldn't budge, Xiao Zhuo had no choice but to first take Zhuo Xiao Mao upstairs.

"Mom, what happened over there?" Zhuo Xiao Mao took Xiao Zhuo's hand; although curious, she obediently went back.

"I don't know; kids shouldn't worry about those things."

Zhuo Xiao Mao turned around, seeing Zheng Tan running off that way. After going upstairs and returning home, Zhuo Xiao Mao stood on the balcony looking that way. From upstairs one could see some scenery outside the courtyard gates, but due to the angle, even with the telescope she couldn't see exactly what had happened—only that many people were gathering in one direction.

Since she couldn't see, Zhuo Xiao Mao glanced at Xiao Zhuo. Seeing Xiao Zhuo go into the kitchen, she picked up the phone and dialed a number; after a few rings, someone answered.

"Hello, this is Zhu Yong's home." A very childish voice sounded, speech unclear, as if eating something, accompanied by some "ka-cha ka-cha" noises.

"Xiao Zhu, I'm Xiao Mao—do you know what's happened outside the courtyard gate?" Zhuo Xiao Mao asked.

"I don't know; I'm watching TV."

"Xiao Zhu, put down your popsicle, then pick up your telescope, walk straight to the balcony, and look toward the two o'clock direction."

"... Where is the two o'clock direction? My alarm clock is on the bed and I can't see it~~"

Xiao Zhuo stood at the doorway, looking helplessly as Zhuo Xiao Mao held the phone, directing the person on the other end to check outside.

On the other side, when Zheng Tan reached outside the courtyard gate, he found many people already gathered; Xiao Hua was still calling, but with the crowd so thick he couldn't see clearly what had happened, though he could guess it wasn't good.

This gate leads straight off campus; the entrance is a wide boulevard, and vehicles from Xiqu Dayuan often come and go here, so the gatekeepers are a bit more numerous and inspections stricter.

Now, when Zheng Tan came over, the guardroom was empty; the security personnel responsible for this side hadn't seen anything—they'd all rushed to the incident site.

Just as Zheng Tan was thinking about climbing higher to see the situation, three people in security uniforms led Xiao Hua out; Xiao Hua let out a low growl, displeased with those pulling it, it struggled and occasionally turned its head toward the crowd.

Xiao Hua had bloodstains on its body, unclear whether they were its own or someone else's.

The three security staff looped Xiao Hua's leash onto an iron hook on the wall beside the guardroom; then one immediately headed back toward the crowd, while the other two stood aside resting, also dispersing the onlookers who had come to gawk.

From them Zheng Tan learned that just then a not-so-clear-minded person had driven out and crashed into a motorcycle; the motorcycle and its rider were thrown out, and the person and bike happened to fly toward Li Lao Tou and company. Xiao Hua blocked the motorcycle but not the person; the motorcyclist slammed into Li Lao Tou and the others, knocking several old men to the ground.

"Shouldn't be life‑threatening, right?" one said.

"Probably fine; the car driver slowed down, so the impact on the motorcycle wasn't strong—the rider should be okay, just looking scary—but those old men? Who knows. People who jump from buildings can still kill others, and someone thrown out can still injure another; if it were a youngster there'd surely be no danger, but given their age, even a fall could be serious, a blow like this……"

Over there someone said they'd sent Li Lao Tou and the others to the hospital in the campus‑dedicated ambulance.

Xiao Hua was tied up at the side, crouching there, gazing toward the crowd, emitting a whimper from its nostrils. Its usually well‑groomed fur was now messy, with many bloodstains and smudges, and blood dripped from its fur onto the ground.

Huh?

Dripping blood?!

Zheng Tan went over and examined closely; Xiao Hua had wounds, a few cuts, probably not deep, but it's unclear if there are other issues—after all, some injuries aren't obvious.

Over there everyone was busy rescuing and directing traffic, police cars had arrived, and no one was attending to Xiao Hua here.

Zheng Tan couldn't help with the rescue; the campus hospital's ambulance had already taken the people to the affiliated hospital.

As for Xiao Hua……

This side isn't far from the pet center either.

Zheng Tan untied Xiao Hua's leash from the iron hook; Xiao Hua then turned around that way, didn't find Li Lao Tou's people, was chased off by a few police, and turned back to run toward Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan jumped onto the dog's back, tugged the leash, and let Little Flower head toward the pet center.

Riding dogs like this, Zheng Tan is already skilled. (To be continued...)

ps: Only one chapter today; although I can't do daily double updates, I'll try to update every other day, everyone go to sleep first, Chen Ci will write a bit more.

ps: When I was young, I watched a movie called "Flying Dog Buddy"; in it, the golden retriever played basketball with people really well. Chen Ci also wanted to, but unfortunately, we only have a native cat and a Pekingese at home. Play ball with them?

The cat's small frame can't handle it; rolling a basketball slowly is okay, but throwing it is out— that's animal abuse. As for the Pekingese at home, likewise, its body is too small to play basketball, so it can only play with a small ball.

In middle school one day, a big black-backed dog came to Chen Ci's house; it was also very interested in basketball, so Chen Ci happily threw the ball out, and then— damn— the Spalding that we had finally managed to buy for the house was bitten through in one mouthful.

After that, Chen Ci no longer played basketball with the black-backed dog.

What's on TV are all lies; playing ball with a big dog requires caution.