This little incident didn't cause any ripples in Ni Sitian's mind, and she forgot about it in the blink of an eye.
Two days later, a phone call from Xiang Zhilan startled her.
Xiang Zhilan was sobbing uncontrollably on the phone. She asked anxiously several times, but couldn't get any answers.
"Did Shen Muzhi bully you?" Ni Sitian became even more anxious. Xiang Zhilan was always strong, and apart from the time when her parents had an accident, she had never seen her cry like this before.
"It, it's dead..." Xiang Zhilan choked up, unable to speak clearly.
Ni Sitian was shocked and stood up abruptly: "Shen Muzhi is dead?"
Xiang Zhilan sobbed for a while, took a few deep breaths, and finally managed to swallow the words that were stuck in her throat before she could speak clearly, "Jinji is dead..."
Ni Sitian was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and slowly exhaled. Although the death of the dog was sad, it was still better than the death of a person.
"It died in my arms..." Xiang Zhilan couldn't stop her tears. She never thought that she would have such deep feelings for a dog.
Aside from the time she was away from the United States, she spent two months with it almost every day, taking it for walks, feeding it, taking it to grooming, bathing and brushing its fur, and sleeping in the same room with it.
From initially being terrified of it to eventually liking it very much, my feelings changed as we spent more time together.
And last night it was clearly begging to sleep in her bed, but suddenly this morning it was completely still.
Ni Sitian heard Xiang Zhilan sobbing and couldn't help but get teary-eyed herself. She had actually heard Xu Tingchuan mention before that Jinji was thirteen years old and was a birthday gift that Su Yan had given to Shen Muzhi.
When a dog reaches this age, it's equivalent to a human in their seventies or eighties. Their lifespan is coming to an end; this is an irreversible fate that no one can change.
Everything Shen Mu did before was to ensure that Xiang Zhilan would accompany Jin Ji on his final journey.
Now that Jinji is gone, does it mean that Shen Muzhi and Xiang Zhilan's three-month contract has ended ahead of schedule?
“Zhi Lan…” Ni Sitian didn’t know how to comfort her. Saying “please accept my condolences” was inappropriate, and telling her not to be sad was pointless and wouldn’t help at all.
She could only stay quietly by Xiang Zhilan's side, listening to her vent her sadness.
The phone call lasted about half an hour. Xiang Zhilan cried until her head ached and her eyes were dry. She slowly stopped crying, regained some composure, and said to Ni Sitian in a hoarse voice, "Okay, I'm fine now."
How could she be alright after crying like that? Ni Sitian was worried about her, so she said, "I'll come with you. Where are you?"
“No need. I’m still at the pet euthanasia center. Jinji is going to be cremated soon, and I want to be with him on his final journey.” Xiang Zhilan sniffed, and her speech began to become more coherent.
Ni Sitian felt a little relieved and said a few more words of comfort before ending the call.
Xiang Zhilan put away her phone, and a black handkerchief appeared in front of her.
She looked in the direction of the handkerchief and saw Shen Muzhi standing there coldly and aloofly, his face expressionless.
She shook her head and didn't take the handkerchief. They hadn't spoken since their argument that day. Later, although she learned that he had taken care of her all night, she wasn't the kind of person who would obediently accept a slap followed by a sweet treat.
All she hopes for now is to get through the remaining few days, then she'll be free.
Seeing that Xiang Zhilan didn't move, Shen Muzhi simply took a handkerchief and reached out to wipe her face haphazardly.
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