Chapter 9: The Mysterious Little One

“Hey, hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing? Our boss isn’t here!”
The young man hurried out, blocking Fu Zhihong and his companion, speaking loudly.
“How could he not be here? That’s not right, is it?”
Fu Zhihong simply sidestepped him and continued walking inside.
The young man, hindered—perhaps unintentionally—by Gu Jianfeng, couldn’t stop Fu Zhihong from reaching a door further inside with little effort.
“See, I told you our boss isn’t here, didn’t I?”
Seeing the empty room, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly praising his boss’s cleverness.
If his boss had caught him failing at this task and fired him, he would have been devastated.
“So he really isn’t here?”
Fu Zhihong stepped into the room, glanced around, then set his bag on the coffee table and spoke quietly.
“Uncle, I never lie!”
The young man’s eyes darted restlessly, clearly scheming about how to fool Fu Zhihong.
“Well then, you go do your own thing, kid. Don’t mind me!”
Fu Zhihong began taking out toiletries from his bag, one by one, as he spoke.
The young man stared at him in disbelief; this scene upended everything he thought he knew.
“Go on with your work, child. I’ll just wait here for Boss Wang. The place is quite nice, you know? This genuine leather sofa—so comfortable! I’ll just sleep here tonight, don’t worry about me, go on!”
Fu Zhihong spoke as he placed his slippers on the floor, changing out of the ones he was wearing. Instantly, a pungent odor filled the entire room.
“Well, you two just sit tight, I’ll bring you some water!”
The young man suppressed his breath, finished his sentence, and immediately left the room—the smell was just too much.
“Old Fu, how many days has it been since you washed your feet?”
Gu Jianfeng sat down heavily in the boss’s chair and asked with a laugh.
“Haha, I was born with this, can’t help it!”
Fu Zhihong replied, laughing heartily.
Feeling the lingering warmth in the boss's chair, Gu Jianfeng smiled and said nothing more.
Outside, the young man was pacing restlessly, completely at a loss for what to do.

Suddenly, a hand clapped down on his shoulder, startling him so badly that his face turned pale in an instant.
“Has that old man left yet?”
It was the owner of the kennel who had arrived.
“Oh, Boss Wang, you scared me half to death!”
The young man patted his chest, then said, “Boss Wang, that old man brought slippers and toiletries with him—looks like he’s not leaving until he gets what he wants! Maybe we should just pay someone else instead.”
“You think I’m a money-printing machine? You think I just spit out money whenever I open my mouth?”
Boss Wang shot him a sharp look.
Sensing the mood had turned, the young man quickly changed his tone: “So what should we do now?”
Boss Wang thought for a moment, took two hundred yuan from his pocket, handed it to the young man, and whispered instructions in his ear. The young man grabbed the money and the kettle, then headed back to the office.
“This is premium Xianhao tea, please have a taste!”
The young man brewed two cups and handed them to Fu Zhihong and Gu Jianfeng.
Fu Zhihong took a sip and nodded approvingly. “Yes, very nice, it really is good tea. Kid, you go about your business. Just leave the kettle here, we’ll help ourselves.”
The young man sat beside Fu Zhihong, took out the two hundred yuan, and handed it to him. “Uncle, how about this—I’ll reimburse your travel expenses out of my own pocket. Our boss is away on a business trip, and I have no idea when he’ll be back. Why don’t you head home first? When he returns, I’ll let you know. How does that sound?”
Fu Zhihong set down his teacup, accepted the money, tucked it into his pocket, and said, “Alright, I’ll take this two hundred for now. But you still owe us sixteen thousand three hundred.”
The young man nodded awkwardly, unsure what to say.
Gu Jianfeng rose from his chair and moved to stand beside him, asking, “You’re new here, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I’ve been here less than three months.”
The young man had no idea what Gu Jianfeng was getting at, so he simply answered as best he could.
“To be honest, we’re from the First Company of the Border Defense Regiment. Last year, during the canine distemper outbreak at your kennel, you came to us for help. We supplied all kinds of things to your kennel—altogether, it amounted to sixteen thousand five hundred yuan. But now, our company’s dogs are going hungry. So tell me, what do you propose we do about this?”
Gu Jianfeng spoke softly.
“Oh, you’re with the army? You gave me quite a scare!”
Now understanding the situation, the young man visibly relaxed.
“And who did you think we were?”
Gu Jianfeng couldn’t help but laugh at the young man’s expression.
“Oh, I thought you were with White Hawk!”
The young man explained.
“White Hawk?”
The name sounded awfully familiar to Gu Jianfeng, and before long, a clear image appeared in his mind.
“You see, sir, White Hawk is a notorious gangster here in Qingzhai. He’s got men under him. Around here, if you cross him, you basically can’t survive.”
The young man explained further.
Gu Jianfeng smiled and didn’t pursue the topic.
“May I take a look at the kennel where you keep the puppies?”
Gu Jianfeng asked.
“Of course, please go ahead!”
The young man, who already found Gu Jianfeng hard to handle, was only too happy to oblige.
Gu Jianfeng smiled at him and walked outside.
As he pushed open the dog pen’s gate, a chorus of barking erupted from within.
“That presence was definitely here just a moment ago—how did it suddenly vanish?”
Gu Jianfeng’s senses were far sharper than most people’s. When he first entered, he’d picked up on a savage aura, albeit faint.
“Woof, woof, woof...”
As he pondered, a little puppy started barking at him, its babyish manner surprisingly adorable.
“Oh? So it was you, little fellow!”
Gu Jianfeng thought to himself, intrigued.
At first glance, the puppy’s breed was hard to determine. It resembled a mastiff, but with significant differences.
Gu Jianfeng reached out to pick up the little creature, but to his surprise, it snapped at him as soon as he got close.
Fortunately, his reflexes were quick, and he managed to subdue the pup immediately.
“Such a tiny thing, but what a temper!”
Cradling the struggling puppy, Gu Jianfeng couldn’t help but mutter.