Pets Chapter 28: Ultimate Move; the light of wisdom in pets

Translated by Crystal  of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: UA

Even after Xie GuanZe finished his volunteering work at the pet shelter, he still went back to check on them, such as the one-eyed pitbull, who was serving his sentence (doing community work), Da Hei and the others. 

Most of the strays from TianSheng Bridge and Rotten Tail building have been transferred to the pet shelter, but it’s not meant to confine them.

Those who weren’t serving their sentence, were free to leave. Most of them had been arranged to go to pet school, so they can learn a skill to make a living out of.

There was also a small part of pets who were traumatized by humans and couldn’t go out into society. They were taught skills to work from home, like opening a web store or doing crafts by pet humans. 

With the internet as a barrier, these pets wouldn’t know if the other were humans or pets, so it was perfect for people like them.

Xie GuanZe felt gratified that this event was given proper attention and solved in time. Now everything was looking for the better.

Everyone but the one-eyed pitbull was happy. 

“Test? What test?! My nose’s fucking gone from the bathroom stank and now you’re telling me to take a test?!”

The one who was monitoring him and chatting with Xie GuanZe and the others was a pure human, supposedly he was an animal specialist. He came specifically for correctional purposes, both on the pet humans behaviour and mental state. 

Seeing that the pitbull was in a good mood, he took the opportunity and told him about the test. That’s how the complaints started.

“I don’t want to go to class! I’d rather clean up the stinky cat’s toilet!”

Both Xie GuanZe and Xie DaWang looked at him with sympathy. 

Look at what the world has done to this kid. 

The pet specialist just responded with a smile, “Yes, you will first take classes, then the teachers will assign you homework. There is a test every month and two midterms.”

The One-Eyed BiTe felt tears streaming down his face as he wished to turn back time. He’d rather be hiding in the Rotten Tail building than face these terrifying characters. 

Why do they all have a different sound and meaning when they all looked the same to him?! He has a small brain okay?! Other than food and fighting, it can’t fit much more! 

“Where are you recruiting the teachers from?” Xie DaWang asked, full of ulterior motive as he thought of his lost phone. 

“Cough, you see…we teachers from the pet university don’t mind volunteering for weekends and after-class hours.” 

The pitbull just looked at him and rolled his eyes. Like hell you are!

But the question got him thinking, considering his sentence, who can teach him?

All criminals had restrictions on where they could go, which is often nowhere but the area they were servicing (living in). Even those who were also serving their term couldn’t visit each other. 

Thus, when he heard about a teacher, he had a sinking suspicion. 

“So, who’s the teacher?”

The specialist just said, “Your feline guests.”

One-eyed pitbull: ……

Those stinking cat bastards’ are already terrorizing him on a daily basis, and now they’re teaching him…won’t they just nitpick on purpose?

The pitbull showed a face of despair. 

DaHei couldn’t bear to look at him anymore. Pitbull was already bad at studying and was basically illiterate, but now he had to take a test every month. It was probably more tortuous than sweeping toilets for the felines. 

The One-Eyed pitbull asked while grinding his teeth, “What if the felines commit a crime? What are they sentenced for?”

The specialist replied, “Oh, they’ll be sent to where the mice are.”

Instantly the One-Eyed pitbull felt peace. 

Good!

Now the One-Eyed pitbull got to thinking, how could he lure the felines into committing a crime?

Torturing students?

Physical punishment?

The One-Eyed pitbull felt hope. Now he just wanted to send those teasing bastards to where the mouses were and have them experience the toilet-homework-tests service. 

The pet specialist was well aware of what the dog was thinking. He wasn’t mad, instead he just smiled like a good natured person.

The One-Eyed pitbull was thinking about luring his teachers but who knew what the other side was planning. After all, they got a hold of the information sooner. 

He was happy to see a friendly rivalry form between the pets. Only when they become energetic and full of life can they live to their fullest. 

The One-Eyed pitbull instantly yielded to the tests and moved onto dealing with the teachers. DaHei looked on this transition and thought that this was a good idea, if a pet’s misbehaving, he’ll give them the test service.

Xie GuanZe looked at the time and bided the One-Eyed pitbull farewell. He came on a weekend when he had an off-day and he still had other things planned. 

The One-Eyed pitbull just waved him goodbye dejectedly. His loss of spirit made Xie DaWang laugh. 

“Seeing how distressed you look, you must not be good with tests. I’ll make sure to bring you some mock tests next time, no need to thank me.” 

Pitbull was instantly revitalized, “No need! Get out!”

Xie DaWang just smiled. The more you say no, the more he wants to do it. Those cats would definitely force him to finish it. 

“I’ll see you guys off.” At this point, DaHei had already self-learnt basic human manners. When he arrived at the door, they were greeted with the black cat KeBi. 

“DaHei, someone’s looking for you.” There was a glint in KeBi’s eyes as he spoke. He lowered his voice and continued, “Looks like it’s your previous owner.”

Both Xie GuanZe and Xie DaWang turned to look at DaHei. They saw the live stream and knew his previous owner chased him out due to a misunderstanding. His owner’s husband also abused him due to many misunderstandings. 

Now that his previous owner was here, were they looking to apologize or to take him back?

Would DaHei agree to it?

“Oh.” DaHei answered calmly. He saw how the other three cared about his response and smiled, “Are you guys that curious? Then let’s go together.”

KeBi the black cat nodded fervently, “Ok. Actually guys, my neighbour contacted me before and invited me out for fish. We had a fun time chatting, but I don’t plan on going back. He needs to take care of his kids and family too, so it’ll be weird to stay at his place in human form. Being normal friends is pretty good too! He even introduced me to a game!” 

That peaked DaWang’s interest, “Game? What game?”

“This, you have a phone right, I’ll download it for you. It’s super interesting. And let me tell you, my cat claws are naturally dexterous so I got the hang of it immediately! I’m so much better than humans!”

“But where did you get a phone?” DaHei asked with a frown. 

DaHei had a phone because the One-eyed pitbull stole Xie DaWang’s phone and by the time DaHei went to apologize for it, Xie DaWang already got a new one, so he kept the old phone. 

However, unlike house pets, strays didn’t have allowances from owners and they just started studying so no one had a job either. Everyone was in the red and took turns using Xie DaWang’s phone. 

KeBi waved his phone to flaunt, “Heh heh, my neighbour gave this to me~ He said his wife replaced this after a year to buy a new model, but I think it’s still pretty nice!”

“As long as it’s not stolen.” DaHei relaxed after hearing that. 

His worst fear was for the strays to get into crime. Petty crimes like stealing were easy in their original form, but it was dangerous for their reputation as a whole. Especially when they had just gained acceptance from humans. 

Xie GuanZe realized what DaHei was thinking and admired him from the bottom of his heart. 

He was a guardian who knew what responsibility meant. He took notice of the little details and looked further ahead than most human parents. 

Outside the door was a middle-aged woman anxiously waiting. She reached her head forward, hoping to see the inside. 

Behind her, on the road, was a white car with two men standing beside its door. They sometimes took a glance at the building with a cold expression.

The older man kept smoking as the younger teen was playing on his phone. Occasionally he’d let out a swear word and get hit on the back of his head as he got lectured. 

Xie GuanZe could figure out from a glance what was going on from his recent experiences of mediating human-pet conflicts. 

“DaHei!” The middle-aged woman shouted in excitement as she saw DaHei. She rushed up, wanting to pet him, but stopped after seeing his adult human form. She awkwardly took her hand away. 

“Sorry, I’m…”

After hearing the sorry he waited many years for, DaHei finally let go.

He let out a huge sigh and with a calmer expression said, “It’s all in the past now.”

The middle-aged woman got teary eyed after hearing his words. With a shaking voice filled with emotion, she said, “Come back with me DaHei, let’s go home.”

DaHei looked out to where the two men were standing. Seeing his worry, she hurriedly added on, “They agreed and my husband felt bad about what happened. He’s willing to accept you again and my son’s living in the dorms, so he’s rarely home.”

The phrasing…

Xie GuanZe frowned as Xie DaWang let out a cold laugh. He got glared at, but he just turned pretending nothing happened and continued to game with KeBi. 

The middle-aged woman anxiously added, “No, you know how they care about appearances, but their hearts are in the right place…”

DaHei smiled but he firmly shook his head. “No need, I found my home.”

The middle-aged woman glanced at the pet shelter’s sign and subconsciously showed her distaste. In her eyes, such shelters were like homeless shelters, no place to call home.

“This place is just…”

“I have my family now. Where my family is, is where my home is. The place doesn’t matter.”

DaHei stepped to the side and hung his arm around KeBi’s shoulder. The latter looked up with a smile, “Meow~ Dage, don’t throw us away, ok~ meow~”

DaHei looked towards the middle-aged woman and introduced him, “This is KeBi, but we all like to call him XiaoHei.”

“DaHei, is this your final decision?”

“Yes.”

This time, Xie GuanZe saw the woman’s shoulder relax and her whole body looked lighter.

She didn’t truthfully want DaHei back, like she appeared.

In her heart, her family was clearly more important. The supposed ‘acceptance’ was just a temporary measure.

Xie GuanZe looked on with a cold eye surmised.

After sending away the middle-aged women, DaHei looked as if he got bathed in sunlight. He finally said goodbye to a past that had troubled him for years.

“Come on! Let’s go gaming!”

Xie GuanZe: ……

Great, now there are three internet addicts. 

After that, Xie GuanZe would often come by the shelter to visit friends and to monitor the rehabilitation process.

He saw the numerous ups and downs of life. 

He saw many pet owners who want to take their abandoned pets back and he saw many kind hearted individuals who want to adopt the strays. 

Some strays, who had been pets before, kept their trust of humans and went to a new home. Others no longer believed humans.

From what Xie GuanZe observed, minors who hadn’t taken a human form were more likely to rebuild trust in humans. Those who have taken a human form, had already been a ‘human’ and didn’t want to be under another’s wing. Those who have matured, even if they don’t have a human anymore, still trusted pet humans more than humans, thus they preferred staying at the shelters. 

Xie GuanZe even saw a pet who escaped to the pet shelter after being abused by their owner but still went back afterwards. They’ll get healed, go back and come back later full of wounds again. 

“He isn’t usually like this, normally he’s really nice to me, he was just drunk, that’s why he accidentally hurt me…”

This was the answer the vet got when they were scolding the samoyed who was lying on the hospital bed. 

What the samoyed said felt familiar. 

Xie GuanZe thought about the police report he received once of an abused housewife. Didn’t she say something similar?

Just like domestic violence, animal abuse only occurred once or multiple times. It’ll never stop because they ‘turned over a new leaf’. (Discovered their conscious, thought better of it)

And for situations like these, no matter what others say, it wouldn’t matter unless the person themselves do something about it. 

A month after that, Xie GuanZe saw the samoyed again. This time, her back legs were severely broken and couldn’t be healed. 

This time, the samoyed couldn’t walk back home and when she called, all she got was a cold “I never owned a dog.”

“In the end, he still abandoned me…”

The samoyed smile with tears in her eyes. 

The vet urged her to take legal action, “The law will punish him.”

“It’s okay, he raised me up, I don’t want to send him to jail.” The samoyed said with a soft voice and slowly shook her head.

No matter how the others tried to persuade her, she just kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. 

No matter who it was, they were all helpless. Although the pet protection organization can accuse the owner of abuse, without the samoyed as witness, it was likely the owner would go unpunished. Even if they managed to punish him, it would be very light. 

They could only leave after assigning her a hospital room.

“How is it?” The One-eyed pitbull asked the moment he saw DaHei. Due to the fact that he was a criminal, he couldn’t visit the hospital area, but he was concerned over another dog like him.   

DaHei just shook his head with a sigh and explained the situation. 

KeBi added his own remarks, “Dog are so stupid, if it were the cats, we would’ve given him a good one and two.”

“And get beaten to death.” The one-eyed pitbull mocked. 

Considering the heartlessness of the owner, if the pet fought back and hurt him, he would’ve definitely beaten it to death, without a chance of getting help. 

KeBi just shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

Everyone was silent, absorbed in their own thoughts.

Xie DaWang gave a suggestion, “I’ll go ask Husky teacher for help, his good with the law, how about we have him appear in court?”

Xie GuanZe shook his head, “We just have a medical history but no witness. And looking at how the samoyed cares about her owner, she might even fake her testimony.”

Even if they had everyone else’s testimony, if the samoyed really wanted, she could say all the wounds were her fault, that it had nothing to do with her owner. She could just say she got them through a fight or something. 

KeBi eerily added, “How about I bring my crew and give him a good beating or two?”

But before anyone else got a chance to speak, DaHei glared at him, “Do you want to clean the mouses’ toilet?”

Xie GuanZe lazily added on, “Hey guys, don’t forget my occupation. Mentioning crime in front of me, aren’t you just asking for it?”

KeBi went ‘blep’ as his ears dropped and went silent. 

(Cats stick their tongue out and it’s unofficially called blep)

Seeing as everyone was in distress, the one-eyed pitbull smiled and said, “I have a plan.”

DaHei asked, alerted, “Don’t give me your old shenanigans.”

“Nope, I don’t want to add to my sentence.” This was better than any other explanation he could’ve given as everyone knew how tortured he was. 

Not only did he have homework sent out by the cats, as well as tending to their litter, he also had Xie DaWang sending him numerous supplementary tests. He was even losing hair in his human form and his hairline was visibly retracting. 

“But I need someone who’s willing to cooperate.”

“You’re thinking of…”

BiTe (pitbull’s name) smiled devilishly. All the stress from studying was washed away and he looked to be in high spirits. 

“Weren’t you guys in need of a witness? I can help you.”

When Xie GuanZe wanted to hear more of the plan, BiTe pushed him away, “You’re a police, you shouldn’t get involved in this, just pretend you don’t know anything.”

Xie GuanZe only needed to think about it for a moment before realizing BiTe’s intentions. 

“Okay, then we’ll be heading off first.”

“Next time, remember to bring me some hair growth tonic.” BiTe said as he worryingly brushed his hair. He also supplemented that with a glare towards Xie DaWang. 

“It’s all because of DaWang, those practice tests’ been making my hair fall even faster. Even the pet hair conditioner stopped working. You’re the master, you take care of your pet’s debts. So you better buy me the best hair tonic out there.”

Xie GuanZe just laughed and rubbed Xie DaWang, who was currently gloating his hair in front of BiTe, “Let’s go, careful if you don’t stop gloating someone will pull it all out due to jealousy.”

BiTe replied with disgust, “I’m not jealous, side bangs are ugly as hell.” ( I have no idea what he’s saying, I assume his hair grows to one side?)

DaWang didn’t back down, “Yes, you’re pretty, you’re pretty bald!”

Xie GuanZe dragged Xie DaWang back home and waited for the news. 

A week later when he returned to the pet shelter again, he heard the latest news. 

The samoyed’s owner bought a new dog, a cute Pomeranian this time, but without much change, he continued to abuse his dog. This time, however, he got reported the moment it happened. The Pomeranian was small but it’s heart wasn’t. 

He was caught red handed with both witness and proof. Not only was the owner sentenced, he was also forbidden from owning another pet again. 

This Pomeranian was sent over by BiTe. It was a minor who didn’t have a human form yet. 

Xie GuanZe felt a deep respect for BiTe’s cunningness. If we were to put it in human terms, he would clearly be the military advisor! His quick wit was so unlike a typical bulldog! He was the beacon of intelligence of bulldogs! 

When Xie GuanZe went to find BiTe with his hair tonic, he felt the utter silence of the classroom. He couldn’t help but slow down his steps and take a peek. 

The ‘beacon of intelligence’ was biting his pencil in frustration. Under the watchful gaze of his cat teacher, he was writing his midterm as if he was in an apocalypse. 

The cat teacher took a look at the clock and reminded him, “The test ends in five minutes.”

“Wait, wait one second, I can do this, I know I can!”

“Let me show you my ultimate move!”

Xie GuanZe was intrigued, his ultimate move, did he have another brilliant idea?

BiTe steeled himself and cut up an eraser to look like a dice and wrote A,B,C,D on it. Then, he let it roll!

Xie GuanZe:……

Truly the ultimate move, he didn’t even need to be taught, hehe…