Chapter Forty-Seven: Entering the Door, Madness Unleashed

Song Jiawei had no idea just how much his unusually sneaky gameplay today had scarred Zhang Congwen’s young mind. Even in his sleep, Zhang Congwen dreamed of Song Jiawei blowing up his base with a kamikaze truck.

After the two rounds ended, Song Jiawei did some self-reflection, wondering if tormenting Zhang Congwen like that was perhaps a bit too much. The reason he’d acted so cruelly wasn’t because Zhu Qingyan bought clothes for Zhang Congwen, but rather due to frustrations at work.

To be honest, Song Jiawei cherished having a friend like Zhang Congwen. In these times, it’s hard to find someone willing to play an outdated game like Red Alert with you. So, Song Jiawei felt a little guilty about his behavior. Yet the guilt was soon drowned out by the thrill of dominating Zhang Congwen.

When Zhang Congwen woke up, he felt a bit drained. The exhaustion stemmed from last night’s relentless defeat at Song Jiawei’s hands, which had left him restless all night. Still, Zhang Congwen harbored no complaints.

Like Song Jiawei, Zhang Congwen valued their friendship. He could tell something was off with Song Jiawei lately. Originally, Zhang Congwen planned to treat Song Jiawei to a night out—after earning some money from training dogs for Xie Caizhe’s classmates—to help him unwind.

But after yesterday’s events, he abandoned that idea. After all, after being thoroughly trounced, spending his own money to let Song Jiawei enjoy himself felt utterly unreasonable.

So, after regaining his composure, Zhang Congwen pushed Song Jiawei’s troubles out of his mind and set off for Lin Xiaoru’s house.

Today, Zhang Congwen was scheduled to train a dog, and Lin Xiaoru’s mother had specially taken a day off from work. Seeing Zhang Congwen arrive with a cloth bag, she was puzzled, assuming he brought some dog training equipment.

Yu Qin strongly disapproved of using physical punishment to train dogs. So seeing Zhang Congwen carrying a bag made her anxious, wondering how to explain that she didn’t want her French Bulldog subjected to any violence.

But the dog, named Big Ears, had none of Yu Qin’s reservations. As soon as it saw Zhang Congwen enter with a bag, it immediately pounced, eager to sniff the cloth bag.

This behavior mirrored what happened yesterday when Zhang Congwen accompanied Xie Caizhe—Big Ears reacted the same way to Xie Caizhe’s backpack.

Zhang Congwen explained, “Actually, Big Ears means no harm. It sees my bag and thinks it’s a toy, which is why it reacts this way. It’s not a big problem, but when guests visit, it can easily startle them.”

Yu Qin nodded instinctively. She felt deeply what Zhang Congwen was saying. Once, a female colleague came to visit, and Big Ears charged at her just like today. The colleague, not used to pets and rather timid, instinctively threw her bag, causing her phone to fall out and break its screen.

“How should I train it?” Yu Qin asked.

“Just let it know that things in other people’s hands aren’t toys,” Zhang Congwen replied with a smile. “No matter what I do in a moment, don’t be afraid.”

Yu Qin nodded, still unclear about what Zhang Congwen intended.

“Ah!”

Seeing Yu Qin nod, Zhang Congwen suddenly let out a loud shout at the French Bulldog and shook his cloth bag vigorously, making a tremendous noise.

Yu Qin, though somewhat prepared, was startled by Zhang Congwen’s abrupt action. Not only her—the French Bulldog, too, was frightened, immediately scampering away and keeping what it considered a safe distance, gazing at Zhang Congwen in confusion.

In the dog’s memory, no one had ever treated it like this before—Zhang Congwen was the first.

But that wasn’t all. After seeing the dog startled, Zhang Congwen swiftly threw his cloth bag onto the floor and kicked it aside.

He showed no intention of stopping. He adopted a fierce demeanor and marched around the living room, stomping and shouting, occasionally slapping the sofa or coffee table.

Yu Qin watched Zhang Congwen in disbelief, utterly bewildered by his actions. She’d never witnessed a dog trainer at work, but had heard bits and pieces—never had she seen anyone enter and immediately act so wildly.

At that moment, Zhang Congwen looked so intimidating that Yu Qin wondered if she’d unknowingly offended him yesterday and he’d come to her house just to frighten her.

But Zhang Congwen seemed wholly immersed in his role. After circling the living room, as if unable to find a suitable outlet, he strode determinedly toward the dining area.

On the dining table was a plush toy usually given to Big Ears to play with. Zhang Congwen grabbed it and threw it fiercely to the floor. Seeing its familiar toy, the French Bulldog moved forward to sniff it, only to be blocked as Zhang Congwen stepped in front of it, causing the dog to retreat in alarm. Still unsatisfied, Zhang Congwen picked up the toy again, slammed it onto the floor, and then stomped it several times.

Finally, Zhang Congwen returned to the sofa and sat down, apologetically smiling at Yu Qin. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

Yu Qin, seeing Zhang Congwen back to normal, shook her head and asked, “What was all that about…?”

Zhang Congwen glanced at the French Bulldog, now trembling in Yu Qin’s arms, and explained with a smile, “Dogs are very sensitive to human expressions. Much of their behavior comes from observing people. When Big Ears used to bite at visitors’ heels, you probably tried to stop it, but not in a stern way, right?”

Yu Qin paused and nodded, “That’s true. It was still young, new to our home. We were afraid if we were too strict, it wouldn’t bond with us.”

Zhang Congwen shook his head. “In the dog world, there’s always a hierarchy. They obey the dominant party, but may dislike or even bully the weaker one. In extreme cases, they might even kill them. Perhaps you find this hard to accept, but a dog’s nature is to bully the weak and fear the strong. Like just now—no matter how I moved around, Big Ears didn’t try to bite my heel like the first time I visited.”

Yu Qin was startled by his words. She didn’t quite agree with the idea of ‘bullying the weak and fearing the strong,’ but recalling past visits—when guests, scared and shouting, dodged the dog—it only got more excited and chased them harder. Yet today, instead of showing aggression toward Zhang Congwen, Big Ears was frightened into hiding in her arms, something she’d never seen before.

Zhang Congwen continued, “I did all that for three reasons. First, to give Big Ears the impression that not everything strangers hold is a toy—so it won’t approach guests’ belongings so enthusiastically. Second, to establish in its mind that I’m not someone to mess with, which makes subsequent training easier. The third and most important reason was a test—to see if Big Ears’ temperament was as I expected. If I’d guessed wrong, the first two goals wouldn’t stand, and I’d have to adjust the training plan. Fortunately, I was right.”

Yu Qin found his words hard to grasp. They made sense, but something felt off. After thinking for a while, she asked, “So you’re saying that whenever a stranger comes to the house, we should act like you did?”