Chapter 2 [The Past] Mad Dog Hotel
"What will happen to the company now that my elder brother and sister-in-law are gone?"
"We can only hold on; what else can we do?"
"Then," the young woman's gaze swept over the little girl in front of the tombstone, "where is Xiaoqi?"
After a moment of silence, the older woman spoke up, "Leave it to our family."
"No need, please don't." The young man stopped her. "We can take turns. Our family isn't short of food."
"Let's ask her," his wife tugged at his sleeve and whispered. "Let's ask her together first."
She and the older woman approached the girl in front of the grave, bent down, and spoke to the girl in soft voices.
The two men stood a little distance apart; the older man had a furrowed brow and was smoking one cigarette after another.
They remained silent until their wives returned.
"So?" the young man asked, "What does Xiaoqi think?"
His wife shook her head. "Xiaoqi said she'll live alone."
"That won't do, she's so young."
She said that the high school entrance exam would be over in six months, and since she would have to live in the dorms during high school anyway.
"Ah...accommodation." The young man opened his mouth, "Living at school is alright."
The middle-aged man, who had remained silent all along, exhaled a puff of smoke. "You should give me some living expenses."
The four looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.
After a long silence, the older woman smiled and said, "This company belongs to my sister-in-law and her husband after all, so neither of us should feel bad about it. How about this, we each take a quarter of what we're entitled to each year and give it to Xiaoqi."
No one responded.
She turned to look at the man smoking, "Honey, what do you think?"
The middle-aged man, with a cigarette between his fingers, nodded, turned around, and continued smoking.
The young couple agreed, "Okay, let's do it this way for now."
They glanced again at the girl in front of the grave; her head was bowed, one arm was in a cast, and her expression was obscured.
"Sigh, what a mess this is," the young woman sighed, feeling sorry for him. "I was going out to have a nice birthday celebration, and then I ran into a drunk driver. Where can I even complain?"
"Yes, watching my parents die right in front of me."
Has the compensation amount been determined?
"If the other party disagrees, then we'll sue them."
"Okay, you should pay more attention. It's not just the compensation from the person who caused the accident, but also the insurance compensation from your sister-in-law and the others."
"I know, I know, I'll keep an eye on it."
...
"Yes, yes, I know, Auntie, everything is fine here."
Lu Qi walked along the road, holding an umbrella and carrying a schoolbag.
She exhaled a puff of white breath. "Yes, I'm in the dorm."
"Really, Auntie, it's Wednesday, I'm at school."
“School only has Saturdays off, and I’ll only be staying at home for one day, so you and your aunt don’t need to come and see me.”
"No need, really no need to buy a cake."
"My classmates are all easy to get along with, don't worry, Auntie. Lights out, I'll hang up now."
The phone call ended, and a few snowflakes drifted on the wind and landed on Lu Qi's sneakers.
She held an umbrella in one hand and carried a plastic bag in the other, containing two boxes of medicine, with the words "sertraline" and "citalopram" faintly visible.
Lu Qi applied to be a day student after only three months in her first year of high school.
She tried, but still couldn't adapt to group living.
The psychologist contacted the school and suggested that Lu Qi live alone.
The high schools were far from home, one in the east of the city and the other in the west, requiring a four-hour commute each way. Lu Qi found an agency and rented an apartment near the school.
The agency fee was a bit expensive, but they didn't ask if she was a minor student.
This is a very old neighborhood, with only a few tiny low-rise buildings. There is no property management company yet, so the residents pooled their money to hire a cleaner and two retired elderly people to take turns guarding the security booth.
Several lights on the roads in front of and behind the residential area were broken, so Lu Qi turned on her phone's flashlight and walked in the dark.
"Waaah."
Amidst the howling wind, she heard a soft moan.
When the flashlight beam was raised, Lu Qi was taken aback.
A puppy the size of a cat was sitting on the sidewalk and in front of the green belt.
It saw her and nervously put its two front paws down on the ground.
Lu Qi walked past it, and it didn't run away, but looked up at the tall woman.
After walking two meters, Lu Qi turned her head and looked at it again.
The ground around the puppy was covered with a thin layer of snow, like icing sugar, and its light golden fur also looked like it was coated with icing sugar.
Their eyes met, and it swayed its little waist as it walked towards her.
Lu Qi hesitated for a moment, then squatted down.
"What's wrong?" she asked the puppy. The puppy walked to her feet, wagged its tail, and whimpered.
Lu Qi pursed her lips, put the medicine into her schoolbag, and tentatively reached out her hand.
She touched something damp and cool.
It was covered in a layer of snow, and after the snow on its fur melted from Lu Qi's body heat, she came into contact with the puppy's warmth.
Warm and soft.
She picked it up easily.
Holding the dog in both arms, she held the umbrella between her neck and looked around, but didn't see anyone.
"Excuse me, just kidding." She went to the security booth in the residential area first and asked the old man on night duty, "Do you know whose dog this is?"
The drowsy old man lifted his eyelids, glanced at it, and said, "No one in our neighborhood keeps this kind of dog."
Lu Qi bowed slightly, "Excuse me."
She left, thought for a moment, and then went to the police station at the intersection.
"Hello, I found this. Could you help me find its owner?"
The female police officer on duty brought over a scanner and scanned the area around the puppy's neck.
"There's no collar, and no implanted chip."
Lu Qi said, "I found it on the road ahead. It wasn't there when I left this morning."
"Okay, I'll check the surveillance footage."
The policewoman operated the screen for a while, then turned it to Lu Qi and said, "I found it. Look here."
At six o'clock, after it was completely dark, a man wearing a baseball cap walked past the surveillance camera carrying a dog cage.
His face was obscured by the brim of his hat, and when he reappeared, the cage was empty.
"Unsurprisingly, it was abandoned," the policewoman concluded.
Lu Qi was bewildered for a moment.
She looked down at the puppy in her arms.
“But it’s a Golden Retriever,” she stammered. “Why would someone abandon a purebred dog?”
“Based on past experience, either the family can’t keep it, or there are problems with its behavior, or,” the policewoman paused, “it’s sick.”
“There are two options now.” Seeing that she was still a student, the policewoman suggested, “The first option is to hand her over to the nearby shelter. I’ll give you their phone number.”
"The other one is that you take it back and raise it."
The chubby little dog looked up.
Lu Qi's face was perfectly reflected in her dark, round eyes.
She felt the puppy's body temperature; this was the first time in a year that Lu Qi had hugged something.
She was holding the dog when she suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation on her chin.
The puppy rested its front paws on her chest, tilted its head back, and stuck out its tongue to lick her chin.
Lu Qi said, "Thank you for your help. I'll take it back with me first."
She took the dog home.
When the door to the rented room opened, the puppy landed on the ground, wagging its tail and sniffing around.
This old one-bedroom apartment didn't feel cramped at all because of the addition of another life; it was so small, about the size of a cat.
Lu Qi put down his umbrella and rummaged through the house for two sausages.
As soon as I tore open the sausage packaging, the chubby golden retriever came waddling over.
Its little black nose pressed against the sausage, sniffing it incessantly. It was clearly very interested, but it didn't eat a single bite.
"Eat up." Lu Qi pushed the sausage forward again.
The puppy sniffed for a while, then backed away.
"Aren't you hungry?" Lu Qi put down the sausage. "Then I'll get you some water."
She boiled water, opened a bottle of mineral water, mixed it into half a bowl, and placed it by the bedside.
The golden retriever followed her, buried its mouth in the bowl, and gulped down the water.
Lu Qi squatted down next to it, watching it drink water heartily.
She carefully reached out and gently stroked the puppy's back.
A strange feeling washed over her; she was amazed by this little life that was so different from her own.
The puppy didn't run away. It looked up from the bowl, nuzzled close to Lu Qi, and buried its head in her arms.
Lu Qi couldn't describe the feeling, but it was much better than seeing a psychologist.
She sat on the bed, holding the limp puppy, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Alright, then I'll take care of you."
She said, "I need to give you a name."
“You and I share the same surname, Lu—Lu, Lu…” Lu Qi pondered, “Let’s call her Lulu, Lu Lulu.”
"Eek!" It swished its tail, the sound not quite a cry, but more like a whimper.
"Lulu, Lulu." Lu Qi smiled.
Fifteen-year-old Lu Qi felt that this was fate.
A year ago, on her birthday, she lost both her parents;
A year later, on the same day as her birthday, she found a baby.
"I've never owned a dog before, but I will take responsibility for raising you well," she promised the puppy. "From now on, we'll live together."
"Eek!" The puppy didn't understand, but it responded to every word she said.
The next day, Lu Qi took leave from evening self-study and went to a pet store to buy dog supplies.
Carrier, pee pads, leash, dog food, treats, alcohol-free wipes, and collar.
"Could you please engrave my name on it?"
"Okay, what's the puppy's name?"
"Lulu. Call her Lulu." As Lu Qi spoke, her expression softened unconsciously as she uttered those two words.
There's a little thing waiting for her to come back to her house. How amazing.
"Okay, Lulu."
"Wait a minute, there's one more thing..." she instructed the shop assistant, "Please engrave my phone number on the back."
Lu Qi carried the things back.
The items I bought in half an hour cost more than a month's rent.
Lu Qi wasn't actually short of money. She didn't touch her parents' death compensation, and her uncle and maternal uncle would send her money every month.
The number of cases has decreased slightly in the last two months, but Lu Qi didn't ask about it; she didn't really care.
That year, the "dividends" she received from both sides alone exceeded six figures, so when the policewoman told her that the puppy might have been abandoned because it was sick, Lu Qi did not hesitate.
She should be able to afford treatment.
On the anniversary of her parents' passing, she, who had lost her family, encountered this abandoned puppy.
Lu Qi thought that perhaps this was a birthday gift from her parents.
Back in that dilapidated rented room, before she even took out her keys, Lu Qi could hear the puppy barking anxiously through the door.
As soon as the door opened, the little dog, wagging its tail and shaking its head, jumped onto her lap, barking and howling.
"I'm back." Lu Qi put down the bag. "Look what I bought, it's all your stuff."
She untied the bag and took out the items one by one to show Lulu.
"This is your food bowl from now on, this is your water bowl, and this is your dog food. Do you like the taste?"
"This is a ball, we can play together from now on, and this too—"
She pulled out the necklace with the inscription from among the odds and ends.
Lulu was picked up by her.
Lu Qi fastened the collar around its neck. The collar was almost invisible, buried in the dog's fur, leaving only a small gold nameplate hanging on the dog's chest.
Lu Qi straightened the sign and pointed to the words on it, reading them aloud: "Lu, Lu".
"This is your name."
She turned the nameplate around. "My phone number is on the back. If you accidentally get lost, someone will call me and I'll come pick you up right away."
Lulu sat obediently in her lap, whimpering softly between the pauses in her speech.
"Here, try your food." Lu Qi got up and poured some dog food for it.
Lulu sniffed it, then flicked her tail and walked away.
"Are you such a picky eater?" Lu Qi asked in surprise. "You won't eat sausages or dog food. It's an imported brand, and other dogs love it."
Lulu ignored him and lay on Luqi's instep like a soft potato nestled against his feet.
Lu Qi's heart melted.
“Okay, I should have something good for my first meal.” She went to open the can.
This time, Lulu finally obliged and gave it a few perfunctory licks.
"Am I not old enough to eat meat yet?" Lu Qi wondered.
She didn't know when to wean her puppy, but on the recommendation of the shop assistant, she bought goat milk powder.
After the goat milk was prepared, the puppy was finally attracted and lay down in front of the basin, licking it vigorously.
It drank a layer and started yawning.
Lu Qi's novelty hadn't worn off, and she wanted to play ball with it, but seeing how sleepy the puppy looked, she took it to bed instead.
"Go to sleep," she said, tucking it in with a blanket. "I need to do my homework too."
The desk was next to the bed. Lu Qi turned on the desk lamp, did two subjects' homework, cooked a bowl of instant noodles for dinner, and then did the remaining subjects' homework.
Lulu was still asleep when she took a shower and went to bed at 11 p.m.
It woke up once in the middle of the night, wobbled over and licked the water bowl, then curled up at Lu Qi's feet and closed its eyes.
That tiny ball rose and fell gently with each exhale.
Lu Qi's heart softened.
She lay in bed, carefully avoiding Lulu, afraid that she might roll over and crush it during the night.
In the middle of the night, she suddenly felt a heat on her cheek.
The little one, half-asleep, crawled toward her until he pressed his cheek against hers, then drifted off to sleep again.
Something furry pressed against his face, and Lu Qi suddenly woke up.
She turned on the light and saw the little ball of fur on the pillow, only then belatedly realizing: she had a puppy.
This is her puppy.
She lay down again and stroked Lulu's soft fur with her hand.
Such a well-behaved and affectionate dog should not be abandoned.
With only one more day of school until Saturday, Lu Qi, preoccupied with the female police officer's speculation, planned to take Lulu to a nearby pet hospital for a check-up on Saturday morning.
She pondered the preparations she needed to make for raising Lulu, and then drifted off to sleep in the warm, milky atmosphere.
At 6:30, Lu Qi was woken up by her phone alarm.
She suddenly opened her eyes and met the sunlight streaming through the window.
Lu Qi was momentarily dazed, unable to recall the last time he had slept until morning.
After the initial daze, I hurriedly prepared to leave.
"Lulu, I'm going to school. You stay home and behave yourself." She hurried out while putting on her coat.
The puppy didn't see her off like it did yesterday morning. It nestled in the pillow, only lifting its eyelids to glance at Lu Qi before lazily closing them again.
"You change your tune so quickly!" Lu Qi laughed, went over and ruffled its head. "I poured you some goat milk, remember to drink it, I'll be back at noon."
She put on her shoes, opened the door, and said goodbye to Lulu again, "I'm leaving, bye-bye."
Coo, coo, coo-coo—
Lu Qi pressed the handle and suddenly heard a strange noise.
She turned her head and saw Lulu sitting on the pillow, her back arched and mouth open, her body twitching intermittently.
It convulsed seven or eight times in a row, then suddenly vomited a puddle of small, white, transparent bubbles.
Lu Qi immediately put down her schoolbag.
Having no experience with dogs, she was momentarily stunned before quickly taking out her phone to search for ways to deal with a dog vomiting.
She found several videos and compared the vomit in them one by one, but none of them seemed to resemble what Lulu would vomit.
Just to be on the safe side, Lu Qi decided to take leave and go to the hospital.
"Come on, Lulu." She carried the soft little dog into the carrier. "We're going to see the vet."
Lulu was a little uneasy when she was put into the airline crate for the first time.
It paced restlessly in the box, scratching at the wire door with its paws and whimpering softly.
All the bloggers in the videos said that vomiting in puppies is very common and there is no need to worry, but for some reason, Lu Qi felt a little uneasy.
Fortunately, there are many pet hospitals near the school, and it only takes about ten minutes by taxi to get there.
"Hello." The receptionist hadn't seen her before and asked about her situation, "What's wrong?"
“Hello doctor,” Lu Qi said hurriedly, lifting the pet carrier to show her. “I have a puppy that suddenly vomited this morning. It might be an upset stomach.”
"Okay, I'll call the doctor. Please come to this examination room first."
Lu Qi nodded repeatedly, holding the airline case as she sat in the consultation room.
Lulu whimpered in the cage, begging to get out.
"Good boy, good boy." Lu Qi reached in and stroked it through the door of the flight case.
Lulu licked her fingertips and became a little more well-behaved.
After about five minutes, the doctor came in.
He asked Lu Qi about Lulu's basic information, and then adjusted his glasses.
“There are two possibilities,” he said. “One is that it has enteritis, which is easy to treat; I’ll prescribe some medicine, and it will be effective immediately. The other one, well…”
He paused, then looked at the bewildered girl opposite him.
"Based on your description, it sounds more like parvovirus."
Lu Qi blinked: "Small?"
The vet explained, "Canine parvovirus... um, do you know feline parvovirus? That's also called feline distemper."
Lu Qi still didn't understand what parvovirus was, nor did she know what feline distemper was, but as soon as she heard the word "distemper," she realized that things seemed to be quite serious.
"Can it be cured?" That was all she cared about.
"Let's do a blood test first."
It took the doctor a full half hour to get the test results.
He sat down and placed the list in front of Lu Qi.
"The results are in: the red blood cell count is high, and the white blood cell count is very low. A normal dog's white blood cell count is between 5.05 and 16.76, but this dog's is only 1.4."
Lu Qi asked, bewildered, "Does that mean I've been diagnosed?"
The doctor nodded.
He suddenly flipped open Lulu's ear, and Lu Qi opened his eyes slightly, seeing for the first time the condition inside Lulu's ear, where a tangled mass of black grime was.
"A dog with parvovirus might have a white blood cell count within the normal range. But Lulu's white blood cell count is extremely low, and her eosinophil count is so low that it's almost undetectable. Look, her ear mites are quite severe."
"This means that it lived in a very bad environment before and was very weak."
Lu Qi didn't quite understand and just kept looking at the doctor.
"Why should I tell you about its immunity? Because there is no specific medicine for canine parvovirus in China; it relies entirely on its own immune system to fight the virus."
"Its immunity is practically zero."
The doctor sighed. "According to you, it was abandoned and hasn't eaten for two days since it came home. So at least three days have passed since the owner tested positive for parvovirus."
"The treatment period for parvovirus is one week."
"If it can get better within a week, it can get better; if it can't get better within a week, then..." He shook his head, "If we compare it to cancer, it's already in its late stage."
After explaining the general situation, the doctor asked Lu Qi, "So, what do you think about it? Do you want to go home first, or what?"
He didn't even mention the treatment plan or the cost.
Lu Qi opened his mouth.
My wrist suddenly felt warm and damp.
She looked down and saw the soft puppy licking her wrist with its tongue, its short tail wagging in her arms.
"Can it be cured, doctor?" she asked again. "I'm not short of money, I'll treat you however you want."
The doctor looked down, adjusted his glasses, and realized that the young owner had not understood his hints at all.
The girl was too young and still wearing her school uniform, so he simply advised her bluntly, "As I just said, parvovirus is a virus that relies on the body's own immunity to fight off; there is no specific cure, especially since you brought it a bit late."
"If we insist on treatment, all we can do is administer intravenous fluids and give it white blood cells, which is not cheap, and the treatment effect may not be ideal."
"But it looks great!" Lu Qi asked, bewildered.
It can run and jump, and it even whimpers. It looks perfectly fine.
"You have to understand, animals are very good at enduring pain. You see it's fine, but that's because it's desperately trying to bear it," the doctor said helplessly. "As a doctor, I can't tell the owner to give up treatment, but the prospects for further treatment are not very optimistic. At present, this little dog could die at any time."
Lu Qi sat there blankly, breathing slightly rapid.
She didn't even understand what illness Lulu had when a familiar tinnitus suddenly pierced her brain.
The sirens of ambulances and police cars echoed in her ears.
Different lives, different hospitals, different doctors—all conveyed the same message to her.
Money can't bring someone back to life; there's nothing they can do.
A gold nameplate dangled on the puppy's chest; its name was on the front, and Lu Qi's phone number was engraved on the back.
A note from the author:
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Let me explain in advance that this story is not about a strong female lead; the main theme is romance, and the supernatural tales serve to support the romance.
Before each episode begins its ghost story, some background information is provided (especially in the first episode, which has five full chapters in total). I was worried that putting this backstory later would disrupt the atmosphere of the ghost story, so I've specially marked it here for everyone:
The first unit to officially enter the world of ghost stories is Chapter 21.
The second unit starts from Chapter 4
The third unit starts from Chapter 9.
Please be patient (I've only set the anti-piracy subscription ratio at 50%, so you can skip ahead if you're in a hurry).
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
