There will be a time for you to cry.

Seeing Xia Lu acting like this, Zhang Congwen, whose mood had just been considerably lightened by a few jokes, once again felt a knot tightening in his chest.

Before Zhang Congwen could erupt, Qiantianshi delivered a finishing blow from the side: "Actually, we've always raised the doll as if it were our own child, so we've been a bit too pampering with it most of the time."

To everyone's surprise, upon hearing these words, Zhang Congwen directly blew up.

Interrupting Qiantianshi, he said, "Excuse me, let me interrupt for a moment. Children do not bite. Do you understand?"

Zhang Congwen had always intensely disliked the rhetoric of treating pets as children, especially when dealing with a problematic pet. Elevating a pet to the status of a human being looks like it's lifting the pet up, but in reality, it degrades human dignity.

Because once this logic holds water, all sorts of absurd scenarios will follow.

Zhang Congwen continued, "If you treat a dog as your child, will you put a leash on your future human child as well? Put it another way, if your child hits someone else, would you think your child's behavior is adorable and find yourself unable to bring yourself to discipline them? If such people actually existed, what kind of people would you think they are? I don't know what you think, but in my eyes, I'd consider such people absolute morons."

Song Jiawei chuckled secretly to the side.

It was a rare occurrence for Zhang Congwen to resort to vulgar language. Clearly, Qiantianshi's remark had stepped right onto Zhang Congwen's structural minefield.

Yet, despite the rough phrasing, the reasoning was spot on. If such a person truly existed, most people present would undoubtedly view them as an idiot, or at best, a lunatic.

Zhang Congwen went on, "If you truly treat this pet dog as your own child, you should take responsibility and educate it. Paying lip service to treating a dog like a child while refusing to provide any training or take any accountability for its upbringing—just enjoying its looks and cuteness—if that's really all there is to it, I genuinely think buying a doll to display at home would be much more appropriate."

Surprisingly, while everyone else absorbed Zhang Congwen's words, Xia Lu was the sole exception. It was as if his words entered one ear and left out the other.

Because right as Zhang Congwen was delivering this speech, the Pomeranian had once again approached Xia Lu.

Resting its front paws on Xia Lu's lap, it struck a pose begging to be petted.

True to form, the female owner could not resist. Seeing the Pomeranian acting coquettishly toward her, her hand instinctively reached out to stroke it.

Seeing this, Zhang Congwen's brows instantly knitted into a tight knot. With a solemn expression, he said to Xia Lu, "Use your knee to push this dog away."

To everyone's surprise, the moment Zhang Congwen's words left his mouth, and before Xia Lu could make a single move, the Pomeranian threw a tantrum first.

Whether it understood Zhang Congwen's words or not, it spun around and began barking furiously at him.

It looked as though it were saying, "You sly fox, why is it always you ruining my fun? My business is none of your concern."

After barking for a while, seeing that neither its owner nor Zhang Congwen was reacting, the Pomeranian turned its head and started barking at thin air.

Witnessing such a bizarre spectacle, Zhang Congwen explained, "Usually, whenever it begs for affection, you immediately pet it. But this time, even though it begged, neither of you petted it, which has left it somewhat dissatisfied. Moreover, it probably detests me right now and wants to use barking at me to make you chase me away. But since you aren't doing as it demands, it's even angrier now, and can only express its grievance by barking at empty space."

With that, Zhang Congwen clapped his hands, prompting Xia Lu to stand up from the sofa and take a step toward the Pomeranian.

Xia Lu rose and took a step forward.

Unaccustomed to such an assertive action from its owner, the Pomeranian was startled and retreated a few steps.

Determined to play the role of the spoiler to the very end, Zhang Congwen continued instructing Xia Lu to advance and encroach upon the Pomeranian's territory. He specifically emphasized that her movements must be crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation or drag.

The Pomeranian tilted its head up to look at its female owner, standing frozen in place, utterly bewildered as to why her behavior had changed so drastically.

Zhang Congwen urged Xia Lu to press her advantage: lift her leg, step directly between the Pomeranian's two legs, and squeeze it out of its spot even further.

The Pomeranian fully caught on.

Back at home, it had been living in absolute comfort, doing whatever it pleased. But ever since Zhang Congwen arrived at its house, it had met with obstacles and setbacks at every turn.

All of this was entirely the fault of this sly trickster.

Having figured this out, the Pomeranian completely snapped, barking incessantly at Zhang Congwen, pouring all its wrath onto him, and even harboring the impulse to lunge forward and bite him.

This time, however, Xia Lu did not give the Pomeranian a chance, blocking it with swift and nimble reflexes.

Yet, Zhang Congwen was far from satisfied with the female owner's execution.

He stated bluntly, "When you block it, you should kick it directly instead of merely stopping it. Just blocking it only makes it feel that you're merely preventing it from doing something; it carries zero punishment in its eyes, and it will stubbornly persist in doing whatever it wants."

Xia Lu nodded and immediately carried out Zhang Congwen's instructions.

This time, it finally yielded some results.

The Pomeranian finally displayed a hint of panic. Ordinarily, the female owner would stand firmly in its corner, but now that she was no longer pandering to it, its little brain struggled to process the shift.

Zhang Congwen instructed, "In a moment, I'll walk over to you and pretend to greet you, and you must pretend we are meeting for the first time and respond accordingly. If your dog makes impolite gestures like barking or low growling, you need to stop it using the method I just taught you."

Xia Lu nodded.

Zhang Congwen stood up, walked over to Xia Lu, extended his fist, and gently bumped fists with her.

True to form, true to its predictable nature, the Pomeranian began emitting low growls at Zhang Congwen.

Xia Lu glanced at Zhang Congwen with hesitation. Zhang Congwen used his eyes to signal her to quickly put a stop to her dog's behavior.

Realizing she could not avoid it, Xia Lu had no choice but to comply.

However, her execution completely betrayed her intent.

Xia Lu applied almost no force, and her movement was entirely perfunctory—she merely grazed the Pomeranian lightly before retracting her foot.

The Pomeranian had already been driven into a corner; if Xia Lu had obediently executed the action as Zhang Congwen instructed, the dog's attitude would undoubtedly have shifted instantly.

Instead, Xia Lu's half-hearted attempt only emboldened the Pomeranian, making its barks at Zhang Congwen even louder and far more aggressive.

Seeing this, Zhang Congwen knew he couldn't rely on Xia Lu, so he had her step aside and personally stepped forward to demonstrate. He delivered a swift kick directly to the Pomeranian's ribs.

Arooo!

A piercing yelp echoed through the living room.

Although Zhang Congwen's kick looked heavy, the force was calibrated with absolute precision—just enough to make the Pomeranian feel genuinely threatened without causing any actual physical injury.

Yet, having never experienced such an injustice in its life, the Pomeranian was so terrified by Zhang Congwen's sudden assault that it shrieked at the top of its lungs.

Even when Zhang Congwen stopped moving altogether, the Pomeranian remained completely cowed by his overwhelming dominance, letting out continuous, panicked wails.

The male and female owners watched anxiously from the sidelines, and Xia Lu even burst into tears.

Though Zhang Congwen hadn't used much force, in Xia Lu's eyes, it looked as though Zhang Congwen had viciously slapped her precious dog across the face.

Zhang Congwen was long accustomed to such scenes. Despite Xia Lu crying pearly tears of distress, he felt not a shred of tender sympathy. He stated directly, "Do you know what your crying means in my eyes right now? It means running away. I can help you train this dog, but I can only train it for this brief window of time. In the end, you're the one who has to live with this dog. If I leave and your dog reverts to its old ways and keeps biting people, you'll have plenty of opportunities to cry later. Last time it bit your boyfriend's lip; next time it might bite your face. Just imagine what kind of crying you'll be doing if your face ends up bitten to look like your boyfriend's lip."

Boy.

Zhang Congwen directly pulled out his ultimate trump card, leveraging a woman's deepest vanity to frighten Xia Lu into compliance.

Song Jiawei chuckled inwardly and nodded to himself. Zhang Congwen's interpersonal communication skills had improved quite a bit over this period; although still somewhat stiff, he was no longer as utterly clueless as he used to be.