Chapter Twenty-Five: Hell-Level Difficulty

"What exactly is the situation?" Zhang Congwen asked.

"That dog was originally a stray. It’s had five different owners, but each one abandoned it because of biting incidents. As for the breed, it’s hard to say for sure—most likely a large mixed-breed," Song Jiawei replied swiftly, clearly having done his homework on the dog.

Zhang Congwen frowned, thinking that Song Jiawei could always find him the most troublesome cases.

With no other choice, he pressed for more details: "Do you know what happened to the dog with those previous owners?"

Song Jiawei shook his head. "No idea. All five owners met online and deleted each other’s contact info after the adoption. So the dog’s past is a mystery. The fifth owner—my client—just wanted a dog and found it by chance through an online post. They had it for over half a year, and in that time, it bit their family more than a dozen times."

"Hold on!" Zhang Congwen suddenly interrupted. "Don’t tell me your client had never owned a dog before."

"That’s right, this was their first," Song Jiawei confirmed with a nod.

Zhang Congwen felt his head ache.

After a long pause, he finally gave Song Jiawei a thumbs up: "Impressive! Your client is something else."

Song Jiawei curled his lips, equally speechless.

But Zhang Congwen’s remark wasn’t pure sarcasm—there was genuine admiration mixed in. He had to admit, his client’s family had incredible endurance. Their first dog was already a full-grown, large mixed-breed stray, passed through several hands, still with unresolved behavioral issues, and not even knowing what the dog had been through. Even after being bitten over ten times, they persisted for more than half a year. That was a full stack of disaster buffs.

He couldn’t think of a better word to describe them—“impressive” was all he could manage.

He wasn’t sure if it was a sense of responsibility, genuine affection for the dog, or just a high tolerance for being bitten.

Everything about this situation was a perfect storm of mistakes for a first-time dog owner—starting off on hell difficulty. Only words like “tough” and “admirable” could describe it.

As a rookie dog owner, with no experience in training, they’d chosen a fully grown dog whose personality was already set, and not just any dog, but a mixed-breed stray.

Zhang Congwen didn’t harbor prejudice against mixed breeds or strays—it was simply that neither was suitable for beginners. Mixed breeds often have unstable temperaments due to their genetics, which is something fundamental and notoriously hard to correct in training.

A stray’s life is full of uncertainty and hardship, its environment much harsher than that of a regular pet. Survival often depends on fierce competition with others, which tends to create complex behavioral problems.

Combine the instability of a mixed breed with the unpredictability of a stray, and the problems multiply.

Not every mixed stray ends up troubled, but when they do, the issues are usually severe. And with no knowledge of its history, tracing the roots of the problem is nearly impossible.

Adding to that, this dog had gone through several owners. Each one had different ways of raising it, possibly compounding its issues.

The fact that multiple trainers had failed was proof enough of the dog’s seriousness.

"I’m not sure I can handle this one," Zhang Congwen admitted, feeling a bit daunted. It wasn’t cowardice—he just wasn’t sure where to even start after hearing the description.

"No worries," Song Jiawei reassured him, giving his shoulder a pat. "If you can fix it, great. If not, it’s fine. My client is prepared for that. He already said he’ll try a few more trainers, and if it still doesn't work, he’ll have the dog put down. He’s not planning to pass it on again—finding another owner would only hurt the dog and endanger people."

Hearing this, Zhang Congwen felt a weight lift from his chest. At least the owner wasn’t blindly sentimental about the dog, which meant less resistance during the training process.

"Did you get me a pair of bite-proof gloves?" Zhang Congwen asked.

Song Jiawei looked blank. "What for?"

Zhang Congwen was ready to throttle him.

"You know the dog bites, and you didn’t bring gloves? How much faith do you have in me?"

Song Jiawei faltered, realizing his oversight, but muttered under his breath, "I thought you didn’t need stuff like that to train a dog..."

Zhang Congwen could only stare at him, speechless.

Seeing his exasperation, Song Jiawei waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. If you get bitten, I’ll take care of you, alright?"

"Get lost! Easy for you to be generous with someone else’s pain," Zhang Congwen replied irritably, though he knew Song Jiawei was joking. "Your client does have a leash and a muzzle at home, right?"

"They do," Song Jiawei answered immediately.

Hearing that, Zhang Congwen felt slightly more at ease. If those basic precautions weren’t in place, he would have turned around and left without another word.

Getting bitten during dog training wasn’t unusual, but getting bitten under these circumstances was something he refused to accept. As the saying goes: if I’m not going to hell, whoever wants to be bitten can go instead.

As they finished their conversation, the rideshare car stopped.

"We’re here," Song Jiawei announced, stepping out first.

After closing the door, Zhang Congwen took in his surroundings. They were in a villa community on the edge of the city. Song Jiawei’s client lived in a detached house with a spacious yard.

In the yard was a massive brindle dog, strikingly beautiful.

Even at first glance, Zhang Congwen couldn’t tell what breeds had gone into this dog. It had the features of a shepherd, the demeanor of a country dog, and hints of husky and Rottweiler. Its lineage was a tangled web.

As soon as Zhang Congwen and Song Jiawei stepped out of the car, the dog lay against the fence, barking at them and frothing at the mouth. Judging by its ferocity, if unleashed, it would waste no time testing the taste of human flesh.

The dog’s barking quickly drew the attention of the villa’s owner.

Seeing Zhang Congwen observing the dog up close, the owner shouted, "What are you doing? Get away from there—stay away from our dog!"

The owner’s tone was harsh; anyone who didn’t know better might have thought he simply didn’t want strangers near his pet.