Chapter 8: Unexpected Doggy Drama

The half-meter tall big golden retriever tentatively shuffled its paws forward.

The girl with twin tails screamed in terror and waved even harder, “Stay back! I’ve warned you not to come any closer!”

The golden retriever quickly backed off, looking hurt, and let out a couple of whimpering whines, freezing in place.

[You have successfully spotted the beast’s trace. This beast has golden fur all over and a massive build, suggesting deep cultivation. It seems to be battling a female warrior. Will you help or stay safe?]

So, this big golden retriever is what they mean by beast? The dog hasn’t even bared its teeth; it looks pretty well-behaved.

Lin Zheng Ran got out of the car and walked over, realizing the girl looked familiar the closer he got.

Her voice also sounded like he’d heard it somewhere before.

He came up behind the girl and called out, startling her into a panicked scream. She clutched the little golden retriever and curled up on the ground, yelling, “Help! Help! Officer, save me!”

Lin Zheng Ran was confused but recognized her: “Lily?”

Hearing the voice and realizing the big dog hadn’t bitten her, Lily slowly opened her teary eyes.

“Huh?” She looked up at the person in front of her: “Lin Zheng Ran?”

They were in the same class. Lily was the class monitor, in charge of discipline and fixing any bad habits in the classroom.

Lin Zheng Ran often slept or read books in class, and the books he read were so obscure that most people couldn’t understand them, so Lily remembered him well.

Lin Zheng Ran asked curiously, “What are you up to? Why all the shouting?”

Lily snapped out of it, like she’d grabbed a lifeline, and quickly stood up, hiding behind Lin Zheng Ran while pointing at the big dog in the distance:

“Lin Zheng Ran, help me protect this little dog! That big yellow dog was just trying to kill it! Look, the little one’s covered in blood! If I hadn’t saved it, it would’ve died!”

“Blood?”

Lin Zheng Ran glanced at the puppy in her arms and saw red around its mouth and eyes. But the color looked odd—not like blood—and there were no wounds. Plus, it had strange seeds mixed in.

He tentatively touched a bit with his finger and said wryly, “This looks more like dragon fruit to me.”

“Huh?” Lily looked baffled: “Dragon fruit? What dragon fruit?”

Lin Zheng Ran looked at the big golden retriever in the distance, which looked wronged and innocent. He thought, the truth is clear!

“If I’m right, that big golden retriever is probably the mother of this little one. Why don’t you put the puppy down and see if it runs to her?”

Lily was stunned but soon shouted back desperately, “No way! I saw that big dog biting the little one’s head with my own eyes!”

Lin Zheng Ran didn’t bother arguing. He took the puppy from her arms and set it on the ground. The little golden retriever wagged its tail and scampered over to its mom for cuddles.

The big golden retriever licked the dragon fruit off the pup’s face and barked gratefully at Lin Zheng Ran twice before turning to leave.

[You rescued the beast mother and child, earning the beast’s blessing. Charm increased by one.]

Lily stood there frozen, like a statue.

Lin Zheng Ran asked, “What do you have to say now?”

“This… this…”

Lin Zheng Ran echoed her: “This… this…?”

Lily’s face turned red as she squeezed her eyes shut: “Even so, I meant well!” She clenched her fists and straightened her arms, looking defiant: “What’s with that look? Like I’m some fool!”

Lin Zheng Ran thought she had some self-awareness: “Why get so worked up? I didn’t say anything.”

The strong-willed Lily blushed even more, feeling utterly embarrassed by his words.

Soon, an officer arrived and asked who had been shouting for help. Lin Zheng Ran pointed straight at Lily.

Lily was so ashamed she wanted to disappear.

She waved her hands frantically and shook her head, her twin tails swinging wildly: “No, no! Officer, I didn’t shout! Nothing happened just now!”

The officer smiled helplessly and left, figuring it was just kids playing around.

Lin Zheng Ran started to head back.

But Lily clenched her fists, hesitated a lot, and finally shouted with her eyes closed: “Thanks for saving me earlier! I always settle my debts!”

Lin Zheng Ran turned around.

She bit her lip in embarrassment.

After a moment, he asked on purpose: “What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

Lily hadn’t expected to repeat it; her face went even redder as she stammered: “I said…”

Lin Zheng Ran kept a straight face, thinking people like her really existed: “Actually, I heard you. No need to thank me.”

Lily watched him leave, blinked a few times, and muttered to herself, “What’s his problem?” then added, “I feel so stupid,” before covering her face and running off.

Time slipped by another week before anyone noticed.

That day, Lin Zheng Ran walked to school with Heqing. On the way, he suddenly spotted the class monitor, Lily, coming toward them.

But when she saw him, she froze and quickly ran away. This had happened several times in the past week.

Heqing hadn’t seen the girl and noticed Lin Zheng Ran’s confusion, asking softly, “Lin Zheng Ran, what are you looking at?”

Lin Zheng Ran replied, “Oh, nothing.”

Heqing looked puzzled, not understanding.

Lin Zheng Ran was just as baffled until one self-study class revealed the reason.

That class, the teacher wasn’t there, so students chatted or slept—Lin Zheng Ran was napping.

Lily, as the monitor, couldn’t stand it and stood up: “Quiet down! This is self-study time! If you keep it up, I’ll write your names on the board!”

Everyone quieted briefly but soon went back to chattering, frustrating Lily as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

The monitor role was tricky in school; it overlapped with the class president’s duties, so Lily often felt useless and unpopular, like she was just drawing everyone’s ire.

She went to the board and quickly wrote down the names of the troublemakers in order.

But when she got to Lin Zheng Ran, she paused and skipped him.

Someone sharp-eyed noticed: “Lily, why didn’t you write Lin Zheng Ran’s name? He’s sleeping too!”

Lily spun around in a panic, stammering: “What do you mean I didn’t? I was just about to! Why rush me?”

“Liar! You wrote everyone in order except him!”

Lin Zheng Ran looked over curiously. Lily met his eyes, her face flushing as she turned back to the board: “I’ll write it now!”

But she only wrote ‘Lin’ and stopped, then erased all the names she’d written.

She shouted to the class: “Quiet down! Last chance—if you keep talking, I’ll really write your names up!”

She stepped down and returned to her seat, awkwardly locking eyes with Lin Zheng Ran again.

A boy in class saw this and teased, “Hey, monitor, do you like Lin Zheng Ran?”