After finishing her conversation with Dong Shan, Cheng Yao checked the time and found it was already six o’clock. She figured there was nothing else pressing to do at the firm, so she headed straight home.

She’d been so busy these past few days that she’d hardly gone out at all, and Megatron was probably about to lose his mind cooped up in the apartment. Seeing that the weather was nice today, Cheng Yao took the dog out for a long-overdue walk.

Freed at last, Megatron was thrilled, tongue lolling as he bounded around everywhere, with Cheng Yao trailing behind on the leash.

Cheng Yao considered herself thoroughly prepared for dog-walking. Along with the leash, she carried a trash bag, tissues, and a small shovel—dogs didn’t understand you couldn’t relieve yourself just anywhere, and Cheng Yao prided herself on being a conscientious citizen, ready at any moment to clean up after Megatron.

But she was still too naive. She never imagined that Megatron wouldn’t need her to clean up after him at all—because he was his own waste disposal unit.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where Building 5 is?”

Cheng Yao had just finished pointing a delivery worker in the right direction when she was surprised to notice that Megatron, who’d been so excited and rambunctious a moment ago, had gone quiet. She was standing near a patch of landscaping, and the dog had obediently stuck his head into the shrubbery, licking at something.

Honestly, this dog of Qin Qin’s had always given Cheng Yao a headache—huskies were lively by nature and had an alarming capacity for destruction, and on their usual walks he’d never once managed to stand still in one spot. Today, of all days, he was so calm and quiet, and Cheng Yao couldn’t help feeling a little touched.

Dogs really were perceptive creatures. She’d been working so hard on this case lately, and even the dog seemed to understand, to be considerate of her feelings…

The thought softened her heart completely, and she couldn’t help bending down to give Megatron’s head an affectionate pat.

But Megatron showed no interest at all in her rare display of tenderness—he simply kept licking, focused and absorbed, at something on the ground.

Wait a second—

As she bent lower and her view came into sharper focus, a very bad feeling started forming in Cheng Yao’s chest.

What could possibly make a dog lick with such single-minded devotion, so utterly lost in the moment? What could make a dog forget all its worries? What could a dog, even after tasting every delicacy and imported dog food in the world, never lose its craving for?

There was only one answer—

Excrement!!!

Megatron!!! Was eating poop!!!

Perhaps sensing the intensity of her stare, Megatron finally, reluctantly, lifted his head. A brief internal battle seemed to play out between the poop and Cheng Yao, and in the end, Cheng Yao won—Megatron chose her.

Unfortunately, Cheng Yao couldn’t feel remotely happy about this, because a moment later, Megatron, tongue still coated from his snack, bounded joyfully toward her, clearly intending to lick her too—

Cheng Yao’s vision went dark, her scalp prickling, and she instinctively stumbled backward.

Dogs really were clever, perceptive creatures—the moment Cheng Yao let her guard down and loosened her grip on the leash while trying to dodge him, Megatron seized the opportunity like an escaped convict, spun around, and bolted.

By the time Cheng Yao came to her senses, the leash was already gone from her hand. It was early evening, and the complex was crowded with people—by the time she gave chase, Megatron had already ducked around several corners, vanished into the crowd, and disappeared without a trace.

Qian Heng had a client meeting that evening and didn’t get back to the rented apartment until 8:45. But at that hour, no one was home—no dog, no Cheng Yao either.

He recalled the property management notice he’d seen at the complex’s entrance on his way in.

There had recently been a string of incidents nearby involving women being groped by a serial offender who liked to strike under cover of darkness, and as he kept getting away with it, he’d grown bolder. Just yesterday, a woman jogging in the complex at night had been attacked and nearly dragged into a cluster of bushes and assaulted. Both the property management office and the police had issued warnings to all women in the complex to be careful about their safety when out at night.

Qian Heng loosened his tie. Such an obvious notice right at the entrance—how could she have missed it? It was already dark out and she still wasn’t home. Was Cheng Yao blind?

Was she trying to force him to come out and look for her?

The thought made Qian Heng snort coldly. As if. What a fantasy. Him, worth 166.666-repeating yuan a minute, personally going downstairs to search for a person and a dog?

Dream on.

Cheng Yao searched for the dog from early evening all the way to nine o’clock, and still hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of Megatron.

Her boss Qian Heng, on the other hand, had somehow found time to go downstairs to throw out the trash five separate times between 8:50 and 9:00—a mere ten-minute span.

With a man like Qian Heng, even the fact that he used the bathroom at all felt like something worth marveling over—that someone so consumed by important business could personally attend to such a mundane task. So the sight of him personally taking out the trash was already startling enough to leave Cheng Yao stunned. But whether he’d suddenly fallen in love with taking out trash or fallen in love with the trash can itself, he went back and forth a full five times, leaving Cheng Yao at a complete loss for words.

The first time, surprise. The second time, wonder. The third time, shock. The fourth time, she’d gotten used to it. By the fifth time, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but wonder—had something short-circuited in Qian Heng’s brain today???

Finally, as Qian Heng came down to throw out the trash for the sixth time, Cheng Yao couldn’t hold back any longer and called out to him. “Boss!”

She found Qian Heng holding the trash bag with two fingers extended in a fastidious pinch, several tissues placed between his skin and the bag to avoid direct contact. The instant her voice rang out, he flung the bag into the trash can with obvious disgust.

Clearly, he had no particular fondness for taking out the trash or for the trash can itself—it wasn’t clear at all why he’d forced himself downstairs six times.

“You can just leave the trash to me—you don’t need to come down and do it yourself!” Cheng Yao said, laying it on thick. “How could your noble hands possibly be used for something like taking out the trash?”

Qian Heng glanced at her and snorted. “Of course my hands shouldn’t be used for taking out trash. But where were you? I couldn’t find you all night.”

“My dog got loose!” Cheng Yao said, bringing up Megatron, thoroughly dejected. “I really don’t have the nerve to tell my friend I lost her son…”

“It’s late. Come back inside for now, and print up a lost-dog flyer tomorrow.”

Cheng Yao was firm. “No, I have to keep looking. Huskies that run off can’t find their way home—they’re too dumb for that.” She glanced at Qian Heng. “Boss, you go on up first. It’s cold out. I’ll come up once I find the dog.”

But Qian Heng, oddly, didn’t go back upstairs. He stood there in the night breeze, tall and handsome, and Cheng Yao couldn’t help letting her imagination run a little wild—was he going to help her look for the dog?

“Do you decide whether I go upstairs or not?”

“…”

Qian Heng finally spoke, and successfully taught Cheng Yao the lesson of not letting her imagination run wild about her boss.

“I’m not going upstairs,” Qian Heng announced concisely, stating his position. “I ate too much at dinner. I need to walk it off.”

Fine, Cheng Yao thought—you’re the boss, whatever you say is right. Even if you told me you were about to streak naked, I’d help you take your clothes off in support.

Cheng Yao had given up all hope that Qian Heng would help, and was preparing to keep searching alone, when she heard him speak again.

“If you beg me, I suppose I wouldn’t mind helping you look for the dog.” The night wind seemed to lend even his voice a strange edge. He tilted his chin up, looking toward a nearby cluster of trees. “After all, if you’re out here by yourself until the middle of the night bringing that dog home, and you make too much noise coming in and wake me up, what then?”

Who needed dignity anyway—Cheng Yao went along instantly, groveling. “Boss, I’m begging you!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Qian Heng started walking.

He pressed his lips together, glancing back at her over his shoulder. “What are you standing there for? Come on, let’s find the dog.”

Cheng Yao hadn’t had high hopes for her boss’s contribution to the search, but in the end, it was Qian Heng’s sharp eyes that finally spotted Megatron.

The dog was stuck in a section of fencing in the complex’s landscaped garden, surrounded by evergreen shrubs, which meant that without looking closely, no one would ever have noticed a dog’s head wedged in there in the dark.

Pulling the dog out was, of course, not a task that could be entrusted to Qian Heng’s noble hands.

Without a word, Cheng Yao rushed forward and started pulling Megatron outward, but the dog wasn’t cooperating—he began twisting left and right, and the angle he was stuck at was such an awkward one that Cheng Yao couldn’t even fathom how such a big head had wedged itself in there in the first place. She used both hands and feet, tugging like she was pulling up a giant turnip, but couldn’t get the dog free.

“Boss…”

Qian Heng said, irritably, “Why are you looking at me? Do you want me to pull the dog out?”

Ah, fair point, Cheng Yao thought—her boss wasn’t just noble, he was also afraid of dogs!

At this hour, calling the fire department to send someone out just to pull a dog free felt genuinely inappropriate. Cheng Yao thought it over, and it suddenly struck her—she could call Gu Beiqing. He seemed to live not too far from here, and he was practically a fellow alum. Surely he’d help with something like this.

Just as Cheng Yao was scrolling through her contacts for Gu Beiqing’s number, Qian Heng, standing off to the side, spoke up.

“Who are you calling?”

“My senior from law school!”

Qian Heng’s brow furrowed, his tone rising. “Gu Beiqing?”

“Yeah, he—”

Before Cheng Yao could finish, Qian Heng cut her off with a sudden movement. He abruptly took off his expensive, custom-tailored jacket and, in one smooth motion, draped it over Megatron’s head before pulling the dog free—all before Cheng Yao even had a chance to react.

“There. No need to call him.” He shot Cheng Yao a cold glance. “Calling someone out in the middle of the night just to pull a dog’s head free—that’s being overly dramatic. Besides, it’s only a professional relationship. No need to give him any hints or wrong ideas.”

???

Cheng Yao looked utterly baffled. “What hints or wrong ideas would I be giving him?”

“He’d think you were showing interest, deliberately manufacturing an excuse to see him.”

Boss, aren’t you overthinking this? Do you men really have this much going on in your heads?

Still, Cheng Yao was genuinely touched that Qian Heng had come to help. She hadn’t missed one particular detail—the moment he pulled the dog’s head free, he immediately tossed Megatron into her arms as if he were a hot potato. He really was afraid of dogs, and yet he’d helped anyway.

“Boss, I’ll definitely take your jacket to the dry cleaner’s!”

The moment Cheng Yao mentioned the jacket, an expression of undisguised disgust crossed Qian Heng’s face. “No. Just throw it away.”

“But this jacket is expensive!”

“I don’t want anything that’s touched a dog.” Qian Heng’s face was full of revulsion. “Keep it far away from me.”

Cheng Yao looked at him and probed cautiously, “Is it because you’re afraid of dogs that you don’t want anything that’s touched one?”

Just as Cheng Yao was sure Qian Heng wouldn’t answer, he pressed his lips together and spoke.

“I’m not afraid of dogs.”

Not afraid of dogs? The look on his face when he saw Megatron said it all!!!

“I just hate dogs.” Qian Heng let out a cold snort. “Dogs are filthy things.”

Cheng Yao was about to explain that Megatron got bathed every day and was very clean, but Qian Heng continued—

“Do you know dogs actually eat their own feces?”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng’s expression looked as if he were reliving a nightmare, his handsome brows furrowed in an expression of utter, unbearable disgust. “When I was a kid, I was chased half a block by a dog that had just finished eating a pile of shit. Ever since then, in my mind, dogs equal shit. Anything a dog has contaminated—no matter how expensive—turns into shit too.”

Cheng Yao couldn’t help but ask, “Why—why did it chase you so relentlessly?”

“What could I do about it.” Qian Heng sighed, his coldness now tinged with a hint of helpless frustration. “Maybe my personal charisma really is too overwhelming. Even dogs can’t resist it.”

“…”

“I really can’t understand why these dogs insist on eating shit.” Under the night sky, Cheng Yao’s noble boss posed the question as though raising some centuries-old philosophical puzzle, then glanced at Megatron, who had settled down by now. “Though I suppose your dog, being fed imported dog food every day, probably wouldn’t go back to eating shit anymore.”

“Boss, a dog can’t change its nature—don’t assume Megatron is any exception.” The scene of Megatron eating poop earlier was still fresh enough in Cheng Yao’s mind to leave her rattled, and she couldn’t help blurting it out. “Don’t let his current behavior fool you—he just finished eating a piping-hot, freshly made pile of—”

Before Cheng Yao could even finish that last syllable, Megatron shot toward Qian Heng with lightning speed, then thrust out his wet tongue and, as if trying to express his gratitude for having his head freed, began eagerly, affectionately licking Qian Heng’s right hand—

In that instant, Qian Heng’s previously healthy complexion drained instantly to white, then from white to a shade of charcoal black…

He was shocked. Frozen. Turned to stone…

All Cheng Yao could think of were the words he’d just spoken—

“Dogs equal shit. Anything a dog has contaminated turns into shit too.”

…

So, boss, this hand of yours that’s just been licked by a dog that had just finished eating shit—should it be amputated, or amputated, or amputated?

Cheng Yao felt she could no longer look directly at Qian Heng’s hand.