Chapter 148: Unexpectedly Trending

After a long while, Zhang Congwen and the others finally figured out the exact relationship between President Tian and Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu was distantly related to President Tian's father and was sworn sisters with his mother. In fact, it was Aunt Liu who had originally played matchmaker for President Tian's parents, bringing them together.

Not only that, when President Tian was a child, his family and Aunt Liu lived in the same residential compound as neighbors. Because the two families were so close, President Tian even became Aunt Liu's godson.

In addition, President Tian grew up together with Aunt Liu's son. Being mischievous back then, the two of them even became sworn brothers...

With all these layers of connection, President Tian was indeed very much a junior in front of Aunt Liu.

Furthermore, Aunt Liu had always regarded President Tian as her own biological son and had disciplined him strictly since childhood. As a result, even now, President Tian was still quite afraid of Aunt Liu.

As for why Aunt Liu kept pushing President Tian to apologize, the truth was that President Tian had already decided to partner with the Canine Language Dog Training Base. The reason he kept delaying the announcement was to give Zhang Congwen and the others the cold shoulder so he could gain greater leverage when negotiating prices.

According to Aunt Liu, price-cutting was normal in business partnerships, but she could not tolerate such petty tactics being used against her own people.

With Aunt Liu's meddling, however, President Tian's plan instantly fell apart, leaving him no choice but to honestly and obediently negotiate the cooperation terms with the Canine Language Dog Training Base.

As for why not a single senior executive showed up when Zhang Congwen went to train dogs at Xingrong Residential Compound, that too was entirely Aunt Liu's idea.

Although Aunt Liu favored Zhang Congwen's side, she handled matters without any unfair bias. Fearing that those executives might find out about her connection to the Canine Language Dog Training Base and grant special favors, she specifically instructed President Tian not to send any high-ranking officials.

She did this simply to give the Canine Language Dog Training Base a fair chance to showcase their capabilities; whether they succeeded ultimately depended on their own strength.

Once everything was laid out in the open, Aunt Liu still insisted that President Tian apologize to Zhang Congwen and the others.

Naturally, Song Jiawei could not let President Tian lose face over this, so he chimed in to smooth things over. With Song Jiawei and the others supporting the mediation, Aunt Liu finally let the matter drop.

In return, President Tian gave Zhang Congwen and the others a grateful look.

After all, if word of this incident were to spread, he would likely lose all his dignity in front of his subordinates.

Although Aunt Liu dropped the issue of the apology, she still looked at President Tian and said somewhat irritably, "Take some time and have Congwen go to your house to train those twenty-odd dogs you keep."

"How many?"

Hearing this, Song Jiawei's eyes popped wide open.

Twenty-odd dogs? Was he trying to run a kennel?

President Tian offered an embarrassed and helpless smile. "At first, I only kept three or four. Later on, my mother found them cute and got hooked on raising dogs, so she kept rescuing stray dogs from outside. Over time, we ended up with more than twenty at home."

Then, turning to Aunt Liu, he added, "Those dogs don't have any major issues, so they don't really need training."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu instantly flared up. "No major issues? I can see it clearly. Those twenty-odd dogs in your house have formed factions and fight every single day; they're practically killing each other. And your mother is just as bad—she loves dogs, but there has to be a limit. To stop them from fighting, she actually throws herself right into the middle and tries to block them with her own body. When those beasts start fighting, do they care who their master is? How many times have they bitten your mother? And your mother is hopeless; she never learns her lesson. Just thinking about this makes my blood boil..."

President Tian offered another sheepish smile and prudently kept his mouth shut. Caught between his own biological mother and the godmother who treated him like her own flesh and blood, he dared not offend either side, so he could only stay silent and agree to send Zhang Congwen over another day.

Zhang Congwen also felt a severe headache coming on.

Over twenty dogs...

He had never encountered a formation this massive before.

Besides, judging by Aunt Liu's words, President Tian's mother was not a typical pet owner either. Coupled with this complex web of relationships, some things would be rather awkward to say out loud when the time came.

Aunt Liu sensed Zhang Congwen's dilemma and said, "Don't worry, Big-Belly-Nian and I will go with you. Just say whatever needs to be said without any reservations; I've got your back."

President Tian felt like crying without tears.

"Big-Belly-Nian" was his childhood nickname.

He had been quite chubby as a kid, especially his exceptionally prominent belly, which was how he earned that moniker.

"My dear mother, please don't broadcast my childhood nickname outside," President Tian said with an expression of utter embarrassment.

Aunt Liu glared at him and retorted, "We're all our own people here, what's there to be afraid of!"

Zhang Congwen kept suppressing his laughter, not daring to let it out.

Sensing the mood of Zhang Congwen and the others, President Tian exchanged a few casual remarks with them before finding an excuse about needing to return to the company to hold a meeting with his staff regarding the partnership, fleeing the Canine Language Dog Training Base as if escaping for his life.

Another month later, the final partnership terms were finally settled.

As soon as the news was made public, it instantly caused quite a sensation.

The announcement that Xingrong Number One intended to build the nation's first pet-friendly community caught the eyes of many, providing tremendous publicity for Xingrong Number One and attracting the attention of numerous pet owners.

Yet the dog training institution that successfully partnered with Xingrong Number One turned out to be a previously unknown, small company named Canine Language Dog Training Base. Overnight, the reputation of the Canine Language Dog Training Base skyrocketed.

Prompted by the news, many media reporters and journalists flocked to interview Zhang Congwen and the others at the Canine Language Dog Training Base, driving its popularity up to yet another level.

Shortly after, the collaboration between the Xinxin Stray Dog Rescue Center and the Canine Language Dog Training Base was also uncovered by sleuths.

Initially, this matter had only circulated within industry circles, but because of it, the popularity of the Canine Language Dog Training Base broke out into the mainstream.

Within just a few days, countless people learned the name of the Canine Language Dog Training Base.

Even more unexpectedly, inquisitive netizens dug up the promotional video that the Canine Language Dog Training Base had released earlier.

When that promotional video was first published, although it gained a certain amount of attention, it was quickly buried by other information.

Being unearthed this time, its popularity instantly surged far higher than before.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Qingyan was forced into becoming a viral internet celebrity overnight due to her sweet looks. Many people became her fans, and some even began boldly pursuing her online.

However, the negative side of fame soon manifested as well.

Gossip and rumors regarding the relationships between Zhu Qingyan, Zhang Congwen, and Song Jiawei began to spread alongside Zhu Qingyan's rise to fame.

Right on the heels of that, however, someone dug up the connection between Song Jiawei and Xie Juli. Left with no alternative, their clandestine romance was dragged into the open.

Even so, this topic generated considerably less buzz.

Small as the buzz was, it still reached the ears of relevant parties, such as Xie Caizhe and Boss Xie.

Showing no cowardice, Song Jiawei seized the opportunity to officially meet Xie Juli's parents, namely Boss Xie.

As for the specific outcome, Song Jiawei did not reveal much, only describing it as neither good nor bad.

Amidst this series of commotions, another person stepped into the public eye—Zhou Xingxing, the other beauty featured in the promotional video of the Canine Language Dog Training Base.

Due to Zhou Xingxing's reluctance to appear in public, however, her popularity remained much lower compared to Zhu Qingyan's.

Even so, the story of Zhou Xingxing and Banban spread far and wide, moving countless people. Several film directors even proactively contacted Zhou Xingxing and the Canine Language Dog Training Base, hoping to adapt the story of Zhou Xingxing and Banban into a movie and requesting that all the actual people involved star in it.