Animal Detective

Chapter 110: Dou Dou

The next day, Shen Xin hurried to the station early.

Ding Yuwei had arrived even earlier and was waiting for him in the parking lot.

Shen Xin had brought a pet carrier.

As they had agreed yesterday, he was bringing the little long-haired calico to Ding Yuwei.

She liked long-haired cats and had taken a fancy to this one.

After taking the carrier, Ding Yuwei teased the little calico for a bit before staring at Shen Xin with a smirk.

Shen Xin immediately understood. "You saw the video, didn’t you?" he asked, exasperated.

Kuaishou had started blowing up last year.

Ding Yuwei couldn’t hold back her laughter. "Seriously," she teased, "with Da Mei’s looks, it’s no wonder she went viral. Shen Xin, you should just create an account and share videos of her."

"Forget it."

Shen Xin wasn’t interested in that stuff. He let Da Mei out.

Ding Yuwei then asked, "Shen Xin, if I just take Da Mei’s kitten like this, won’t she miss it?"

"Miss it?"

’Miss it?’ Shen Xin thought. ’Please, just take it. At over three months old, they’re at that universally annoying age. Every day, I can hear Da Mei’s inner voice screaming, "They’re driving me crazy!"’

Ding Yuwei said, "Oh," and reached out to pet Da Mei’s head, asking her if it was okay that she was taking her baby.

Da Mei lifted her head, sniffed Ding Yuwei’s hand, and let out a meow, as if giving her approval.

Shen Xin put Da Mei down, telling her to go play but not to run off.

She had been to the precinct before, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

There was still some time before work started, so Shen Xin headed to the training grounds to let Black Panther and the others out to do their business.

But when he got there, Shen Xin was surprised to find a yellow dog lying outside Tiger Stripes’s cage.

Startled by Shen Xin’s arrival, the yellow dog immediately shot out of the room.

The door to this room wasn’t closed at night.

The thing was, unless Shen Xin was mistaken, this seemed to be the same yellow dog that had been hanging around Tiger Stripes in Dongtou Village yesterday.

It looked identical—skinny and all.

Shen Xin quickly went outside.

The yellow dog hadn’t run far. It had ducked into a nearby bush and was peeking out, looking in his direction.

The more Shen Xin looked, the more certain he was: it was the dog from yesterday with Tiger Stripes.

The crucial part was that Ririshun Logistics Park was at least 20 kilometers from the precinct, and that wasn’t even counting the distance to the town where Da Mei and the others had gone.

That made it about thirty kilometers in total.

He had driven that entire distance, so how on earth had this yellow dog managed to follow him?

It was unbelievable.

Shen Xin turned, opened the cage, and let Tiger Stripes and Black Panther out.

Black Panther trotted happily around Shen Xin.

Tiger Stripes also put on a show of wagging his tail at Shen Xin, as if to display his loyalty.

Meanwhile, when the yellow dog saw Tiger Stripes, it hesitated for a moment before running over and nuzzling up against him.

No doubt about it, then. It was the same dog from yesterday.

And she was a female.

Shen Xin was secretly amazed.

’Is Tiger Stripes some kind of Daniel Wu of the canine world?’ he wondered. ’A handsome dog so charming that a chance encounter and a single hookup could make this yellow dog pine for him, crossing 30 kilometers just to see her lover again?’

His charm was off the charts!

What was even more ridiculous was that Shen Xin noticed Tiger Stripes was giving the yellow dog the cold shoulder.

His eyes even held a hint of impatience. He held his head high, letting the yellow dog fawn over him without any response.

He was actually a playboy!

Unbelievable.

Shen Xin clicked his tongue in amazement.

Just from the video yesterday, he’d seen Tiger Stripes mess with two female dogs.

Who knows how many others he’d messed with when the camera wasn’t rolling.

Shen Xin squatted down and sized up the yellow dog.

She wasn’t a standard yellow dog with a white face; her fur was a bit darker. She wasn’t large, clearly a mutt, and so thin her ribs were clearly visible.

As far as Shen Xin knew, dogs were a lot like cats. They didn’t really have a concept of monogamy; everything was driven purely by instinct.

But you could never be sure.

Just look at Da Mei and Evil Bully—they were clearly more dependent on each other, seeming to recognize one another as partners.

So, a thirty-kilometer "husband-chasing" journey wasn’t entirely impossible.

The crucial thing was that her sense of smell was terrifyingly good.

Tiger Stripes had traveled in a fast-moving car, with exhaust fumes to interfere with the scent, yet she had still managed to track him.

His interest piqued, Shen Xin got up and went into the room to get some dog food.

It was the food the Cassaro’s original owner had given him.

Shen Xin had also used some of the approved funds to buy canned food and other things to mix in.

He brought out three bowls.

Tiger Stripes immediately perked up, trotting over and wagging his tail nonstop.

The allure of good food was still a powerful one for him.

Shen Xin then beckoned to the yellow dog.

The yellow dog hesitated, then moved closer to Tiger Stripes.

Tiger Stripes immediately bared his teeth at her.

Shen Xin glared at him.

’Sleeps with her, but won’t even give her a bite to eat.’

The guy was truly smart and knew how to read the room. Seeing the look on Shen Xin’s face, he instantly understood why he was angry, shifted over, and made space for the yellow dog to eat.

Shen Xin beckoned to the yellow dog again, shaking the bowl in his hand.

After a moment’s hesitation, the yellow dog came over to Shen Xin.

She was clearly starving and began to wolf down the food.

Shen Xin, wanting to test her obedience, directly picked up the dog bowl.

The yellow dog didn’t bare her teeth. Instead, she shrank back fearfully, looking at Shen Xin nervously, her eyes filled with longing and pleading.

Only then did Shen Xin put the bowl back down, sighing to himself.

’Seeing how skinny she is, she must have been bullied a lot while living on the streets.’

After licking the bowl clean, the yellow dog wasn’t greedy. She wagged her tail at Shen Xin, and a favorability icon immediately appeared above her head, with one bar filled.

"Good girl!"

Shen Xin rubbed her head, deciding to recruit her.

Her sense of smell was too amazing; she’d probably be a natural at sniffing out drugs.

She enjoyed the affection, wagging her tail nonstop to please him.

"What should I call you?"

Shen Xin rubbed her head, his mind skipping past names like Dahuang and Wang Cai. When he saw Ding Yuwei walking over in the distance with soy milk and steamed buns, an idea struck him. "From now on, how about I call you Dou Dou?"

The yellow dog tilted her head, clearly not quite understanding.

But it didn’t matter. Once he called her that enough and her favorability increased, she would naturally get it.

"Shen Xin, where did this extra dog come from?" Ding Yuwei immediately noticed Dou Dou.

Shen Xin took the breakfast and asked if Dou Dou looked familiar to her.

Ding Yuwei didn’t recognize her at first, but when she saw Dou Dou sidling up to Tiger Stripes, it dawned on her. "Isn’t this the dog from the video yesterday afternoon? The one lying next to Tiger Stripes."

After recognizing the dog, Ding Yuwei was completely bewildered and asked how she had gotten here.

"Would you believe me if I told you she ran here all by herself?"

Even now, Shen Xin found it incredible.

Ding Yuwei’s eyes went wide. Dongtou Village was a long way from here.

Just then, perhaps annoyed that Dou Dou was getting too close, the playboy Tiger Stripes bared his teeth at her and barked twice.

"Tiger Stripes!"

’You’re the one who attracted this romantic mess, so you have to take responsibility.’

Shen Xin’s sharp rebuke was more effective than anything.

Tiger Stripes immediately behaved, obediently lying on the ground and letting Dou Dou press up against him.

Ding Yuwei also immediately thought of what a scumbag Tiger Stripes was and couldn’t help but laugh. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Tiger Stripes roll over and throw a front paw over Dou Dou.

She instantly blushed.

’This guy is such a player,’ Shen Xin thought, rolling his eyes hard.

He went over and kicked Tiger Stripes away, then simply tied Dou Dou up a little farther off.

"Oh, right. I ran into Captain Sun just now. He’s looking for us," said Ding Yuwei.

Summoned by his superior, Shen Xin didn’t dare delay. He quickly stuffed the last bite of his steamed bun into his mouth and headed for the main office.

As he was about to knock, he happened to run into Chen Chao coming out.

He clapped Shen Xin on the shoulder and hurried away.

It seemed like he had been very busy lately.

Upon seeing Shen Xin, Sun Zhao was all smiles.

Just as Shen Xin had expected, seeing that he had solved another cold case, his superior was decisively piling the heavy responsibility of cracking cold cases onto his shoulders again.

Sun Zhao asked Shen Xin which case he wanted to take on next.

"Captain Sun, I want to work on the Xiao Hong case. You handled that one, do you remember it?" Shen Xin didn’t overthink it and brought up the Xiao Hong case directly.

At the mention of Xiao Hong’s name, Sun Zhao’s smiling expression suddenly changed.

He fell silent for a moment before sighing. "How could I possibly forget?"

A cold case is like a thorn stuck in your heart, especially one you handled yourself. No one knows that feeling better than the officer who was on it.