Chapter 20.3

Qian Heng snorted coldly: “Don’t deny it. Do you think I’m blind? You flirted with the other party’s lawyer in front of my eyes.”

Cheng Yao: ????

“If the other party is your ex-boyfriend or current boyfriend and you need to avoid them, do tell me as soon as possible.”

Cheng Yao only felt confused. What was he saying? She didn’t even utter a single word. How did Qian Heng make up such an elaborate story already?

“Gu Beiqing was my senior during university. I was only a freshman when he was in his first year of postgraduate study. In his third year, he formed a study group with me to review the judicial examination together. I passed my judicial examination under his guidance… After he graduated, he went abroad to Berkeley to study JD1. We sorta lost contact with each other. I didn’t know that he had returned to China to practice. Today is my first time seeing him again…”

“Oh.”

Cheng Yao was afraid of being removed from the team and continued to explain: “There’s no boyfriend or ex-boyfriend relationship here so I have nothing to avoid. I won’t let it affect my work because we’re acquaintances!”

For some reason, Cheng Yao felt like she was explaining to her husband that she had not cheated on him…

Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao: “No gathering until the case is over.”

In order to participate in the case, Cheng Yao risked it. She whispered: “What else do I have to do?”

Qian Heng took a look at Cheng Yao and asked a question that was completely out of topic: “How many points did you get in the judicial examination?”

“Ah?” Cheng Yao scratched her head and laughed. “It was exactly 360. One less point and I’ll be suffering, one more point and it’ll be a waste. I’m pretty lucky…”

“He tutored you for the judicial examination and you could only get this score?”

Qian Heng snorted with a look full of disdain: “He’s too stupid.”

“…”

After Qian Heng finished speaking, he strode out of the conference room leaving Cheng Yao to stare at his back.

She didn’t know what kind of poison her boss took today but why was he so hostile towards Gu Beiqing?? Cheng Yao wanted to tell Qian Heng that he didn’t need to feel panicked at all. Gu Beiqing wasn’t toxic. Qian Heng, the leader of the Five Poisons, your throne can’t be shaken by ordinary people!

* * *

At the end of every meeting, it was mandatory for Cheng Yao to inform Bai Xingmeng of the results. She typed a brief email of the situation to her with the recording of the meeting attached.

After sending the email, Cheng Yao was prepared to sort out some more evidence for the case when she received a call from Qin Qin.

“Yaoyao!”

Hearing “Yaoyao”, it provoked Cheng Yao’s fighting spirit. Being greeted with such a friendly title, it mustn’t be anything good…

Sure enough, Qin Qin’s voice was gentle and sweet: “I have something to ask of you…”

“No, no way!”

“Don’t be like this. I’m going on a business trip for two weeks. Can you take care of my Megatron for me?”

Megatron was a one-year-old husky. He was lively, destructive and disobedient. Qin Qin even looked for a dog trainer but that ended up with little to no results.

“Absolutely…”

Before Cheng Yao could say “not”. Qin Qin Qin already finalised the matter: “My plane is in the afternoon, I will send Megatron to your home now. Thank you, my dear sister2, I love you!”

After Qin Qin finished speaking, she mercilessly hung up the phone.

“…”

Cheng Yao wanted to cry but she didn’t have any tears. She decided to cheer herself up by thinking that it would be a great opportunity for her to test out her roommate’s opinion on dogs.

What Cheng Yao didn’t expect was that her opportunity would appear so quickly.

After sending a document to Qian Heng, Cheng Yao casually glanced around and found a framed watercolour painting on Qian Heng’s desk. It was a picture of a dog.

“The dog is so cute!”

Qian Heng realised what Cheng Yao was being excited about. He glanced at the watercolour painting: “Eh, it’s okay.”

Oh? There was definitely a story!

Cheng Yao decided to continue to be stubborn: “In fact, I have always liked dogs. Dogs are lively and affectionate creatures. They’re very cute and loyal companions. The relationship between dogs and humans could be traced back to thousands of years ago…”

“Cheng Yao.”

“Ah?”

“No dogs.”

“…”

“Don’t just assume that I like dogs because of a painting given by my niece.” Qian Heng finally raised his head. “I don’t like them.” He pursed his lips. “Dogs are very troublesome animals. First, they always bark and disturb people. Secondly, they are dirty and you always have to follow their butts to clean up their shit. Thirdly, they’re dangerous. If they bite someone, you will need to compensate them. Nowadays, the rabies vaccines are fake but the dog bites are real. So, in conclusion, I will not accept you keeping a dog in the house. It’s better for you to give up.”

“…”

Cheng Yao could only silently look at Qian Heng in anger.

Qian Heng faintly glanced at Cheng Yao and gave an ultimatum: “It’s either the dog or you.”

“…”

* * *

When Cheng Yao called Qin Qin again, she had her phone turned off and couldn’t be contacted. The dog however, was already sent.

As a result, when Cheng Yao went home after work, she almost fainted.

Reality was always cruel and life couldn’t be as she wished. It turned out that Qin Qin had the dog sent directly to her door…

Cheng Yao looked at Megatron who was tied outside the door by a dog leash. She was really speechless. Qin Qin had put a bag of dog food beside the dog as well as a pile of dog toys and dog kennels. It made him look like he was abandoned.

Fortunately, Qian Heng wasn’t going to eat at home that night. She came home pretty late but Cheng Yao saw that there was no one around her so she quickly took Megatron inside and hid him in her room.

As she touched the husky’s head, she earnestly said: “Megatron, you have to be good, otherwise you’ll be kicked out the house.”

The husky licked Cheng Yao’s hand, looking very well behaved. Cheng Yao felt the same kind of satisfaction as a mother would towards their kids.

* * *

Qian Heng arrived home at 10 o’clock in the evening.

Cheng Yao hugged the dog to herself and prayed that Megatron would be sensible.

Unfortunately, the heavens didn’t grant her wish. Although Megatron didn’t bark, he broke away from Cheng Yao’s arms. He ran around the room and knocked down the bedside table.

With a loud bang, the bedside table fell down to the ground.

“Cheng Yao?”

Cheng Yao covered Megatron’s mouth and tried to calm it down. She yelled: “I’m fine! I accidentally kicked over the chair just now. Thank you for your concern!”

Unfortunately, as soon as her words ended, Megatron broke away from Cheng Yao again and knocked down the chair…

Cheng Yao could only shout towards the door first: “Boss, I’m fine! I’m really fine!”

“Bang——”

The dog jumped onto Cheng Yao’s desk…

“Boss, I’m OK!”

“Woosh——”

The dog overturned all the documents on Cheng Yao’s desk——

“Boss, I’m doing yoga!”

“Crash——”

The dog bumped into the wardrobe…

“Boss, this yoga movement is a little difficult! But I can improve! It’ll be okay!”

“Bang——”

The dog kicked over the small air purifier in the room…

“Boss…”

“Cheng Yao, what the hell are you doing in there? Are you performing some kind of ritual?” Qian Heng couldn’t stand it anymore. He pushed Cheng Yao’s door open: “You better have…”

The result of that was the moment Qian Hong opened the door, a bulky husky rushed to him with its tongue wagging out. It jumped on Qian Heng excitedly and licked Qian Heng’s hand in a friendly manner.

Cheng Yao just watched Megatron stick out its tongue and drape itself on Qian Heng’s legs. It left two dirty paw prints on Qian Heng’s high-end custom-made suit trousers. She was a goner…

Qian Heng didn’t move. He maintained his posture and clenched his teeth: “Cheng Yao, what is this?”

“A dog!”

Qian Heng stared at Cheng Yao and said every word separately: “I. Know. It’s. A. Dog.”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Cheng Yao quickly added. “It’s a husky! But the scientific name is a Siberian Husky. It’s a very primitive breed that has a lot of history with a relatively meek personality. Together with the Golden Retriever and Labrador, it is one of the three least aggressive dogs…”

“Shut up.” Qian Heng’s expression was terrible. “I’m asking you; how did this dog get here?”

Cheng Yao looked at Qian Heng and didn’t answer him.

Qian Heng’s usual calmness had completely disappeared. He was extremely angry: “Cheng Yao, I am asking you a question!”

“But… you told me to shut up and then to answer you. So do I shut up or answer…?”

Qian Heng was obviously about to ascend to the sky from anger. He stroked his eyebrows. His expression was difficult to explain and he was short of breath: “Take this hairy four-legged animal away from me right now!”

Cheng Yao rushed forward to pick up Megatron.

She realised then that Qian Heng, who was very tense as if he was facing a big enemy, had relaxed himself when she took away the dog. Cheng Yao looked up and saw that Qian Heng’s face was a little pale.

The wheels in Cheng Yao’s mind moved and a guess gradually took form——

He was afraid of dogs!!!

Neither heaven nor earth was afraid of dogs but her poisonous boss Qian Heng was afraid of dogs!

Ah ha ha ha ha ha, with this revelation, Cheng Yao just wanted to laugh in her heart.

She schooled her emotions and pretended to be concerned. “Boss, are you afraid of dogs?”

“No.” Qian Heng subconsciously denied the accusation.

“Oh, so it’s like that…” Cheng Yao “accidentally” released Megatron as she responded. The husky immediately stuck out its tongue and began to run in the direction of Qian Heng…

“Cheng Yao!” Although Qian Heng’s face was still calm, his voice had changed. “Look after your dog! Have it learn respect!”

Cheng Yao pulled the husky back and Qian Heng showed the expression of “finally breathing again”. He returned to being the invincible boss.

“Dispose of this dog within today. I already told you that you can’t have a dog!”

“Boss, please do me this one favour. This is my best friend’s dog and she went on a business trip today. She wanted me to look after it for a while. It won’t be a long time so don’t worry. I won’t let it go out, I’ll lock him in my room…” Cheng Yao said as she picked up one of the paws of the husky and waved it at Qian Heng. “Come on, Megatron, say hello to Partner Qian!”

Qian Heng took two steps back in disgust. He refused to give in: “If you want to keep it here then this year’s year-end bonus will be completely gone!”

Cheng Yao “accidentally” let go of the lively husky once again and it moved closer to Qian Heng…

Qian Heng’s face still showed the same kind of forbearance and coldness but his body language was a completely different story.

If it hadn’t been for his image, he might have jumped up and escaped…

“Boss…”

Qian Heng roared: “Get the dog away!”

Cheng Yao focused on giving a heartfelt confession instead: “The year-end bonus? Let’s talk about the year-end bonus first. You see, I spend a lot of money on rent and eating alone. If there is no year-end bonus then I must tell you about my mental stress…”

“I won’t deduct your year-end bonus! Now, get the dog away!!!”

“Thank you, boss!”

After achieving her goal, Cheng Yao didn’t say anything else. She pulled the dog back and held it in front of her chest.

Qian Heng looked at the husky who sat obediently beside Cheng Yao. He finally heaved a sigh of relief. He gave Cheng Yao a warning: “You can keep it but don’t let it appear in public. Tell your friend to come back quickly and take the dog back sooner or else I will send her a lawyer’s letter!”

Cheng Yao held the dog hostage as they had achieved their goals. She took what she could get from him and nodded. “Yes, it will all go according to the boss’ arrangements.”

Footnotes

Juris Doctor degree which is a graduate-entry professional degree in law.

They’re not blood related but in Asian/Chinese culture you can call your close/good friends brother or sister.