Chapter 51 They fought over a wife…

Qiu Xiaoman thought her cousin was overthinking things. Just because Liu Kun came, did she have to pay attention to him?

Who made that rule?

She got out of the car and headed straight for the base. The early spring wind swept across the empty base, howling and slapping the Siberian chill onto her face with tremendous force.

I forgot to wear my scarf today, and my face turned bright red from the cold after just a few steps.

Kong Linfu, who was in charge of logistics, was still carrying a heavy red bucket and was walking towards the kennel. When he saw her coming, he quickly reminded her, "The monk Hua had a high fever yesterday afternoon and took leave to go back. Dou Lei is making vinegar in your office right now. You can go in later."

Burning vinegar? Qiu Xiaoman was both amused and exasperated. There was such a folk remedy, supposedly to prevent the spread of cold viruses.

Last spring, a cold wave swept southwards, rapidly crossing the Hexi Corridor, traversing the Qinling Mountains, and invading the Sichuan Basin. It even crossed the Wumeng Mountains, like a bucket of cold water being poured over Yunnan, causing many people to catch colds and fevers overnight.

At the time, vinegar was also burned in the classroom, but it had little effect. The school had to give students an emergency two-day holiday so they could go see a doctor.

She thought such folk remedies wouldn't even exist in the North, but it turns out it really is a unified China.

Suddenly feeling a bit amused, she decided not to go to the office and went directly to the training field.

Seeing that she left without looking back, Liu Kun didn't get out of the car. However, Shen Tenglong deliberately walked to the car window and knocked on the glass.

Liu Kun's right hand was on the steering wheel, and his left hand was to his lips, as if he was thinking about something. He didn't want to pay any attention to the noise.

However, until now, Shen Tenglong is the only one among the younger generation of the Shen family who can speak to Qiu Xiaoman. Liu Kun did not want to cut off his own escape route, so he had no choice but to roll down the car window, his phoenix eyes cold as ice, and indifferently look at the figure outside the windshield.

Seeing his rudeness, Shen Tenglong wasn't angry. After all, he was a magnanimous man. He warned him, "I don't care what your purpose is, please don't do such despicable things like a rogue."

"I've come to donate some dog food to the base, do you want some?" Liu Kun's words were like poison, extremely pungent.

This was tantamount to calling Shen Tenglong a dog, but Shen Tenglong didn't get angry; instead, he laughed and said, "I heard the dogs at the base eat very well, with meat and fish every meal. If my family had the means to feed them that kind of dog food, I'd be happy to eat it. Do you want some too?"

Liu Kun scoffed, "Then you bark first."

"If I bark, will you bark too?" Shen Tenglong retorted with a simple smile.

Liu Kun suddenly asked curiously, "I heard that after you were laid off, your fiancé ran away. How come you're acting like nothing happened? You're pretty shameless. Are you trying to curry favor with Officer Qiu and get her to introduce you to someone?"

Shen Tenglong wasn't angry and continued to smile: "If my sister is really willing to introduce someone to me, I will definitely treat them well. What, you also want my sister to introduce someone to you? What kind? Come on, tell me, I can tell her during lunch."

Liu Kun couldn't help but sneer. Wasn't this obvious? He suddenly turned his head and stared straight at Shen Tenglong: "Alright, my treat, want to join us?"

“You’re overthinking it. My sister cares about my mom a lot and wants to come back with me to visit our elders, so of course she’ll stay at my house for a meal. She’s not like some people who have no manners at all.” Shen Tenglong straightened up and turned to leave.

Now that things have come to this point, Liu Kun should get lost, since Xiaoman's lunch has already been arranged.

Unexpectedly, Liu Kun not only didn't leave, but got out of the car directly, straightened his thin suit, put one hand in his pocket, and went in with an air of arrogance.

Startled, Shen Tenglong quickly followed. Honestly, there were so few people at the base, not even a security guard. It was clear that they were short on funds and trying to save money wherever possible. He had to tell his uncle when he got back and let him talk to Uncle Jiang.

Uncle Jiang has a good relationship with Director Wen, so he should be able to persuade him. If that doesn't work, he can come and work as a security guard, since he's already laid off.

The two walked one after the other to the edge of the training field and were surprised to find that several trainers were leading the dogs in warm-up exercises.

Running around the track seems simple, but in this freezing weather, it's really tough, especially for the exposed ears and face. The howling north wind has turned everyone's features a deep red.

Liu Kun frowned, turned around and went out again, got back into the car, turned around and left, leaving Shen Tenglong completely bewildered.

Well, since Liu Kun is gone, he should hurry to the company to see what his uncle's plans are. His uncle was discharged from the hospital today.

However, what he didn't know was that Liu Kun went to the pharmacy to buy frostbite medicine, and then waited for the Scitech Shopping Center to open before buying two scarves, two pairs of gloves, and two knitted hats, all of which were pure cashmere and ridiculously expensive.

Among them, one pair of gloves is fingerless and the other is mitten. Considering the nature of Qiu Xiaoman's work, both sets of cashmere products are either pure black or brown, which are dirt-resistant.

I was planning to just pay and leave, but then I thought I'd buy a pink outfit too. Pink is more suitable for a young girl like me, right?

However, in doing so, his father's task was successfully completed—to approach and show goodwill towards Qiu Xiaoman.

But how can his own needs be met? After all, he comes from the countryside. Seeing such good things, he shouldn't have the heart to hit him anymore, right?

Forget it, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Let's win him over first and see if he's willing to go out to eat and meet his friends. He doesn't want to be interrogated by his father every day, with that attitude that makes him feel like a criminal.

Feudal patriarchs are just so unsettling.

After buying these three sets of items, he remembered the faded canvas bag that Qiu Xiaoman used, so he turned around and went to the bag counter and picked out three genuine leather bags.

The colors match the three sets of scarves, gloves, and hats, one black, one brown, and one pink.

The brown one looked like a bucket and was quite ugly, but the sales clerk at the counter said that this bag was a hot item this year and was very expensive, so I decided to go with this one.

He didn't even remove the tag, so that Officer Qiu would know the value of the item.

At 10:30 a.m., he returned to the base gate, picked up the things he had bought, and went to check out the training ground.

At this moment, Qiu Xiaoman is mediating a dispute between two dogs. One of them is a Doberman named Maodu, which was assigned to her, and the other is a spotted dog named Huashengtang, which is in charge of Lu Zhiqiang, the monk.

The two of them got into a fight over a wife.

The object of their scramble was Huihui, who had just made a significant contribution to the case of reselling electron tubes.

Spring is indeed a season of renewal and revival.

Qiu Xiaoman was utterly helpless. She was squatting there, having a heart-to-heart talk with the two love-struck dogs: "Maodu and Huashengtang, you two haven't even passed the test yet, and you're already thinking about finding wives and having puppies. Don't you want to be police dogs anymore?"

"Waaah... but I just miss my wife." Maodu felt very wronged. Police dogs are not spayed or neutered, so when he felt the urge, he could only rush over to find a female dog and ask for some cuddles.

Peanut Candy barked and protested, "I confessed to Grey first! I should be the one to date Grey! I really like Grey. Grey has the aura of a primeval forest about him, which makes me feel the call of my ancient ancestors."

"Hahaha, Peanut Candy, are you trying to say you're a wolf? Try howling at me." Qiu Xiaoman didn't want to be a feudal patriarch, so she tried to guide and persuade as much as possible. Forceful intervention was only a last resort.

Peanut Candy loved being complimented on looking like a wolf, so he immediately faced the direction where the moon had set at dawn and howled, "Awooo!"

Haha, Qiu Xiaoman patted his head and asked, "After you confessed to Huihui, did Huihui accept you?"

"Woof, Grey is so ambitious! She said she can only date after she passes the test and becomes a full-fledged police dog." Peanut Candy was so aggrieved; his body was out of control—he just wanted to have puppies with Grey.

Qiu Xiaoman was both amused and exasperated: "Look, even Huihui knows to prioritize getting a stable job. You're male dogs, so even if Huihui gets pregnant, it won't affect you. But Huihui can't do that. If she gets pregnant now, she won't be able to undergo high-intensity training and won't be able to be a proper police dog. She'll be sent away, and you'll never see her again. Are you willing to do that?"

"Aww, no! I love Grey, I want to be with Grey forever!" Peanut Candy felt ashamed, but also helpless. "What if I feel bad?"

"Let me think of something." She looked at Maodu, who was sulking beside her, and patted Maodu's head. "What about you? Did you confess to Huihui too?"

"Not yet. When I came out this morning, I had just walked up to Grey Grey and smelled Grey Grey's butt when Peanut Candy hit me." Maodu was so aggrieved. Qiu Xiaoman hadn't arrived yet, so she didn't see this scene.

Qiu Xiaoman quickly checked with Peanut Candy to verify. Peanut Candy was an honest and good child. He let out a whimper and lowered his head, saying, "I was wrong. I won't use my claws next time."

"It's nothing, it's normal to be angry in the heat of the moment. But peanut candy, next time we fight, I'll punish you by not letting you eat any meat," Qiu Xiaoman gently reminded her.

Peanut Candy remembered, looking ashamed: "Is there meat today?"

"Then let's see who gets through the obstacle course first, you or Maodu. Come on, the first place gets five pieces of meat, the second place only gets three! Okay, let's talk about the argument at lunchtime, let's train! Come on, come on!" Qiu Xiaoman blew her dog whistle and led the two arguing dogs back into the training group.

As she ran, her high ponytail fluttered in the wind, a perfect expression of youth.

Liu Kun watched from the side, his gaze gradually tightening. He subconsciously gripped the shopping bag in his hand, then turned and went to wait in the office.

Soon, Grey rushed to the front and completed the obstacle course. Peanut Candy lagged behind, panting heavily as it looked at Grey's proud smile. Suddenly, it felt that it was not good enough for Grey.

No, I need to work harder.

The third-place tripe was fuming, thinking he wouldn't get any meat for lunch. He was very resentful and immediately declared, "Stinky peanut candy, I'll definitely beat you next time! I'll make Grey choose me, hmph!"

Qiu Xiaoman smiled and told them to relax, rest for a while, and then go back to the kennel for dinner.

Peanut Candy stared blankly at the five pieces of meat in the bowl: "Didn't they say the second place only got three pieces?"

"I meant you were comparing with Maodu, not with Huihui. Huihui gets its own reward." Qiu Xiaoman went next door and gave Maodu three pieces of meat.

The disheartened tripe instantly beamed with joy, determined to impress Grey next time!

Qiu Xiaoman then went to see Huihui and the Pomeranian, praising each of them before returning to her office.

After each training session, a training record for the dogs needs to be written. Qiu Xiaoman's hand was injured, making it difficult for her to hold a pen, so Captain Meng took over this task for her.

But she still had to go and see, after all, it was her duty.

As soon as I entered the office, I saw an unexpected guest standing at the window, and her desk was covered with shopping bags.