Chapter 45: Forty-fourth Chapter: Drama at the Pet Hospital
“Xiao Li, wait. What exactly is the situation with that Golden Retriever?” Gu Yunsheng asked, his voice laced with concern. He had always had no resistance to fluffy little animals, let alone Douding, whom he had met a few times. That Golden Retriever was always enthusiastically wagging its tail at him; it was hard not to like him.
“Mr. Gu, Mr. Lu, do you remember Douding? That very friendly Golden…” Xiao Li was so anxious her eyes were red, her speech fragmented. “His owner brought him over for boarding this morning, saying sheād pick him up tonight. Who knew… who knew…”
“Xiao Li, don’t panic. Take your time.” Lu Jingheng comforted her, handing her a tissue. He noticed the registration book in Xiao Liās hand had fallen, so he leaned down to pick it up. He caught a glimpse of the name and froze. “Doudingās owner… is… Zhou Shasha?”
“Yes, that woman surnamed Zhou… Ugh, my head is a mess, I can’t think for a moment.” Xiao Li took the tissue and rubbed her eyes messily. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “He was fine just now. Douding even ate two ham sausages. But just a few minutes ago, he suddenly started twitching all over and foaming at the mouth. We were all terrified! Dr. Xiao saw it was bad and immediately said to prepare for surgery…”
“Dr. Xiao? What did he say? Is it serious?” Gu Yunsheng pressed, a sense of unease rising in his heart.
The image of Doudingās lively, cute self appeared before him. He didn’t want to believe that such a vibrant life could suddenly…
“Dr. Xiao said Douding might have accidentally eaten something toxic. The situation is not optimistic right now…” As Xiao Li spoke, tears began to well up again. “He also said to contact Doudingās owner immediately, but the calls won’t go through…”
“How could this happen?” Gu Yunsheng and Lu Jingheng looked at each other, both seeing the worry in the other’s eyes.
“Yeah, we want to know what happened too…” Xiao Liās tears started falling with a patter. “If something really happens to Douding, I… I really don’t know how to explain it to Sister Shasha… She treasures him so much…”
Ding-ling-ling… The crisp sound of the doorbell rang out as the glass door of the pet hospital was shoved open.
A strong scent of perfume mixed with a hint of tobacco smoke hit them. A woman wearing sky-high heels and dressed flamboyantly rushed in with aggressive clack-clack-clack steps.
She wore oversized sunglasses that covered half her face, had flaming red lips, and her wavy hair flew behind her like a burning fire.
Behind her followed two bodyguards in blackātall, bulky, and expressionless, as if she were afraid people wouldn’t know she was not to be trifled with.
Ignoring everyone, the woman walked straight to the consultation desk and slammed her Hermes bag onto it with a loud bang, startling the nurse who was tidying the desk.
“Where is my Douding?!” The woman ripped off her sunglasses, revealing eyes with exaggerated smoky makeup. She scanned the room, her gaze finally landing on Xiao Li. Her shrill voice echoed through the entire hospital. “You’re saying something happened to Douding? What the hell happened?!”
Startled by the sudden display, Xiao Li took a step back and hid behind Gu Yunsheng, whispering, “She… she’s Sister Shasha…”
Zhou Shasha walked closer to the desk, staring intently at Xiao Li, Gu Yunsheng, and Lu Jingheng. She asked urgently, “Where is Douding? What’s wrong with him?”
“Sister Shasha, Douding…” Xiao Liās voice from behind Gu Yunsheng grew smaller and smaller. Tear drops the size of beans rolled in her eyes, but she didn’t dare cry out loud.
“Say something! What happened to Douding?!” Zhou Shashaās shrill voice rang through the building.
“Madam, please calm down. The doctor is already performing surgery on your pet.” Lu Jingheng, who couldn’t stand it any longer, suppressed his own emotions and tried to comfort the dog owner.
“Calm down? How can I calm down?!” Zhou Shasha suddenly broke down. She crouched on the floor, covering her face with her hands, and began to sob. “If something happens to Douding, what will I do…”
Then, she grabbed Gu Yunshengās arm, recounting incoherently: “I found Douding when I was at my most desperate. Back then, I had just been cheated out of all my savings by a scumbag and was buried in debt. It was him… he was always by my side, comforting me, giving me the hope to keep living…”
“I beg you, help me. I’ll pay whatever it takes as long as you can save him! I’ll do anything you want!” As Zhou Shasha spoke, her tears fell like broken strings of pearls, ruining her heavy makeup.
Looking at the broken-down woman, a sliver of sympathy rose in Gu Yunshengās heart.
Though he didn’t like her overbearing attitude, he could understand the pain of losing someone like a family member.
He gently pulled Zhou Shashaās hand away and said softly, “Miss Zhou, please calm down first. I will do my best to help, but…”
“But, I need to know the truth. Before this, what did you feed Douding?” While leading Zhou Shasha to the lounge, Gu Yunsheng prayed in his heart: Please don’t let it be anything weird! These days, some pet owners are harder to serve than their own parents!
Xiao Li, being quick-witted, slipped away toward the operating room under the guise of “seeing if Dr. Xiao needs help,” but actually to escape Zhou Shashaās “low pressure.”
Zhou Shasha was still crying. To call the sound “lingering for three days” would be a lie, but calling it “piercing the brain” wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
Gu Yunsheng felt like his brain was about to explode from her crying. While reciting “the customer is God” in his head, he had to keep handing her tissues. It was truly a case of “pain and pleasure mixed.”
Lu Jingheng looked at the two bodyguards at the door. Each was bulkier than the last, like two moving mountains of flesh. They blocked the hospital entrance completely. Anyone who didn’t know better would think a gym group had come to the wrong place for a team-building exercise!
He wasn’t afraid of them suddenly losing it; he was mostly worried the scene would scare the other little animals. If it left a psychological shadow on some poor kittenās soulāmaking them tremble every time they saw a muscular manāthat would be a sin.
So, Lu Jingheng adjusted his breathing and decided to use his “social butterfly” skills to resolve this “crisis.”
Clearing his throat and putting on his trademark “sunny smile,” he strode toward the two men. His confident stride made him look like he was about to perform a feat of strength on stage!
“Oh, brothers, what kind of play is this?” As Lu Jingheng spoke, he “accidentally” revealed the blinding gold Rolex on his wrist. “With this kind of lineup, someone might think a big director is here to film a movie!”
The two bodyguards clearly hadn’t expected this refined-looking man with glasses to pull such a move. They both froze, not knowing what to say, standing there like idiots.
Seeing this, Lu Jingheng knew his “acting” was working. Feeling smug, he continued to add fuel to the fire: “Let me tell you, this place is a treasure of feng shui. A film crew was here just two days ago. I heard that movie is incredibly popular; the box office has broken a billion!”
At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice and said mysteriously, “Let me tell you, nowadays, if you want to get famous, you have to do something different, don’t you think?”
The two bodyguards were stunned, clearly not having recovered from Lu Jinghengās “metaphysical” theory…
“Famous? You think our Miss Shasha gets famous just because you want her to? Take a look at yourself in the mirror!” one bodyguard shouted, slapping his thigh.
“Don’t you know who our Miss Shasha is? She’s a universal, invincible super-idol! The entertainment industry shakes when she stomps her foot!” As he spoke, he puffed out his massive chest like a proud rooster. “If her baby loses a single hair, I’ll show you what it really means to ‘tear a house down’! Iāll tear down not just this crappy hospital, but even your toilet!”
Lu Jingheng rolled his eyes inwardly. Why was this bodyguard so dramatic?
One would think they were filming an action movie!
His ears were sharp; in the next room, Gu Yunsheng was coaxing Zhou Shasha. The woman had probably forgotten to cry by now and couldn’t even be bothered to fake her tone anymore. He thought to himself: These two big idiots think they can scare me?
Who was Lu Jingheng? He was a man who had charged through the business world seven times and emerged without a leaf touching him.
Now, writing web novels was just for his own cultivation and to earn a bit of cigarette and wine money.
And these two muscle-heads wanted to show off their muscles in front of him? They should see who they were dealing with.
But well, one shouldn’t strike a smiling face. In this day and age, money is for everyone to make; no need to bicker with these hot-headed youths.
Lu Jinghengās eyes darted around, and he immediately swapped to a beaming expression, his tone becoming sweet as honey:
“Oh, brother, you’re taking it too far. Dogs are humanityās best friends! Besides, the doctors at our hospital are authoritative experts with superb skills. Rest easy, you two!”
As Lu Jingheng spoke, he pointed to the lounge next door. “Listen, Sister Shashaās mood has already stabilized. I bet before long, you’ll hear the sound of the dog jumping around healthily. Take it easy for a while, sirs; the surgery will be done soon.”
Just as Lu Jingheng finished speaking, Gu Yunsheng and Zhou Shasha walked in. Seeing the two bodyguards sitting idly, Zhou Shasha felt irritable. “You two go outside. Don’t stand here and disrupt the hospitalās normal business.”
As Zhou Shasha spoke, she saw her two “gate gods” surrounding Lu Jingheng as if they were catching a chick. Her anger flared again. Her eyebrows slanted and her eyes widened as she waved her hand impatiently. “Go outside! Don’t disrupt the business here!”
“Sister Shasha,” Gu Yunsheng saw the bodyguards looked embarrassed, so he quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “How about you go and handle your business first? After the surgery, Douding will need to stay for observation. Once his condition is stable, I’ll notify you to pick him up. Does that work?”
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