Chapter 329: A Dog, A Debt, and Blood

2022-05-20

After Gu Chen caught him, Rob seemed to give up running. But before facing justice, Rob asked for one last meeting with his mother. Gu Chen agreed. After the train ride, they’d transfer Rob to Dongxing City to close the case.

They bought train tickets back to Rob’s hometown. On the train, Gu Chen asked Rob what drove him to kill. Rob slowly began recounting a story from seven years ago. Throughout the trip, Gu Chen quietly texted me updates.

That’s how we finally learned why Rob killed Lü Zhiqiu. My earlier hunch was right—Rob’s act wasn’t premeditated. It was only after seeing Lü Zhiqiu that he made the quick, deadly decision.

And why did seeing Lü Zhiqiu fill Rob with such murderous intent? It all started with a dog seven years ago. By the end, I felt nothing but helplessness—this was a blood-soaked tragedy, completely set in motion by a dog.

Seven years back, Rob was hauling bricks on a construction site. He was twenty-six and had a girlfriend—a rural girl around twenty-four or twenty-five. These days, a bricklayer can earn about ten thousand yuan a month, but back then it was a lot less. For a bricklayer at that time, finding a woman willing to look past your circumstances and talk about marriage was rare.

Back then, a twenty-four-year-old rural girl was considered nearly past marrying age. Most would have wed long ago.

Rob’s girlfriend worked as a waitress at a restaurant. Their work schedules were almost completely opposite.

Rob’s lunch break fell during his girlfriend’s busiest hours. So, he would go to her restaurant, asking for nothing but a steamed bun. He didn’t go for the food, just to grab a moment with her. In the afternoons, when Rob was busiest, the restaurant closed, so she’d head over to the site to see him. She couldn’t really help, but she just wanted to be with Rob.

They were almost inseparable, as if they’d been together in a past life.

But one day, everything changed.

The construction site had everything—leftover food, random trash. Wild dogs loved the place. Usually, they’d scavenge scraps left by workers.

That afternoon, Rob’s girlfriend came to visit him at the site.

Rob was tied up with work, so she sat at a distance, whiling away time by playing with the stray dogs. She’d bought a sausage—just twenty cents each—and fed it to a little pup. Suddenly, a big dog appeared, intent on stealing it from the puppy. Rob’s girlfriend, feeling bad for the little dog, decided to help by taking the sausage back from the big dog.

There’s nothing scarier than a big dog protecting its food. The moment she reached in, the dog snapped at her arm. Its sharp teeth sank in, blood spurting as she wailed in pain.

Someone saw Rob’s girlfriend get bitten and ran to tell him. In a panic, he and a few others rushed her to the hospital for treatment and a rabies shot. After dropping her at the rented apartment, Rob raced back—he couldn’t afford to miss any more work.

Back at the site, Rob spotted the dog again, still with blood on its muzzle, running around like nothing had happened. Fury surged through him. He called a few coworkers to catch the animal.

After a wild chase, they finally grabbed the dog. Stray dogs won’t behave—they snap at anyone near. With no other choice, the workers strung it up. Someone asked Rob what should be done with it. Rob hesitated. A dog bites a person—there’s no real way to get back at it.

One person suggested they kill the dog and eat it. Another argued dog meat wasn’t edible. As they debated, a group of university students doing internships at the site walked in on the scene. The students immediately accused them of planning to eat dog and kicked up a fuss.

There had already been friction between the groups. The students thought the workers were grimy and uneducated. The workers saw the students as bookish, heartless know-it-alls. Tempers flared. Initially, Rob hadn’t planned to eat the dog, but pushed by all the chaos—and already simmering with anger—he declared they’d kill it and eat it. The students should mind their own business.

But Rob had no idea one of the students was a passionate dog lover—Lü Zhiqiu. She wouldn’t back down. The two sides faced off: workers led by Rob, students by Lü Zhiqiu.

Amid the shouting, it’s unclear who first suggested that the students cough up ten thousand yuan if they wanted to buy the dog. In the heat of the moment, everyone thought it was only a jab—who’d pay so much for a stray? To everyone’s shock, Lü Zhiqiu handed Rob a thousand yuan right then and promised the rest the next day.

Rob was stunned. He never imagined anyone would pay ten thousand yuan for a dog.

Rob let the dog down. Lü Zhiqiu arranged to bring the money and collect the dog the following morning.

That night, Rob lay awake for hours. He was sure Lü Zhiqiu would keep her word. But should he take the money? His coworkers thought yes—anyone who could hand over a thousand so casually came from money. Rob’s girlfriend couldn’t work now, needed daily rabies shots, and all that cost money. In the end, faced with a year’s salary, Rob gave in.

The next day, Rob got the remaining nine thousand yuan. Lü Zhiqiu took the dog away. Everyone assumed the story ended there—until things took an ugly turn.

Two weeks later, a group of well-dressed people turned up at the workers’ dorm. They shouted, demanding that “that scum Rob” come out and explain himself. Before Rob could even process what was happening, they dragged him outside.

These people had fancy cars and an air of status. Rob was dazed, trying to explain, but no one listened. Someone struck first, and Rob got beaten badly.

But it didn’t stop there. These people still weren’t satisfied. They looped a rope around Rob’s neck, dragging him like a dog through the street. Rob was supposed to collect his girlfriend for her shot that day. No other coworkers were around—no one could help.

For an endless hour, Rob started questioning the world itself. What kind of world was this, anyway? He’d never abused a dog, yet suddenly found himself hated by strangers.

First they beat Rob. Then, parading him like a dog, they even tore off his clothes and tossed them aside. Just then, Rob’s girlfriend arrived to get him for her shot—and saw the whole disgraceful scene. She witnessed his humiliation and his misery. She dropped to her knees, begging for mercy, but they ignored her, even mocking her by stripping her as well.

At that moment, Rob understood: sometimes, living as a person was harder than living as a dog.

From that day on, Rob’s life changed completely.

Not long after, his girlfriend broke up with him. After living through something like that, she just couldn’t stay—not that Rob even had the courage to try making amends. The other workers noticed his gloom and worried, but Rob could never tell them the truth.

He hadn’t just been humiliated—he’d dragged his girlfriend down with him.

Rob had no idea how it had all spiraled so far. By chance, a coworker who played games at the internet cafe spotted a rumor post online. It accused Rob of animal cruelty in graphic detail, with shocking photos of abused dogs.

That coworker warned Rob to be careful for a while.

But none of them realized—it had already happened.

Haunted by the humiliation, Rob thought of Lü Zhiqiu. He was convinced she was behind the online slander. He confronted Lü Zhiqiu, but she and Jiang Xiaochun brushed him off, only fueling his anger.

Even though nobody else knew, Rob always felt the other workers looked at him differently now. He felt exposed, like standing naked in public. The unbearable feeling lasted until payday, when Rob asked the labor boss to let him go.

That night, Rob blew his entire paycheck—he bought a hundred yuan worth of barbecue, a bottle of white liquor, and found a dark corner by the street to eat, drink, and cry alone.

Right then, Rob felt as if his whole life had unraveled.

Who could’ve guessed? A single dog—and it’d cost him everything.

Losing a job doesn’t matter—you can always find another. But losing the person you love and suffering such humiliation? That leaves scars for life. Over the next seven years, Rob even forgot his girlfriend’s name and face. But the shame, every time he woke at night, cut to the bone. He’d never forget.

He gave his last paycheck and all his savings to his ex-girlfriend, hoping to soothe her pain. He never saw her again.

That night, with his stomach grumbling and no money left, Rob thought about stealing scrap iron from the construction site just to eat.

That one night would become something none of them would ever forget.