After I Started Working at a Pet Kindergarten - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Life passed quietly and steadily.

Just as I was about to stop taking my medication, the person I least wanted to see appeared.

Li Ce.

My first boyfriend of five years.

My first boyfriend, who had betrayed me for four of them.

My first boyfriend, who had forced me to resign.

I saw him while I was giving the dogs outdoor playtime. He had come to ask about enrolling his own dog.

When he spotted me, he froze.

“Chen Lanyue?”

Every terrible memory flooded back at once.

Li Ce and I had started dating in my sophomore year. In his junior year, he began seeing a woman from another university.

He used the money I gave him to buy her presents.

He put all his ingenuity into hiding her from me.

After graduation, we joined the same company at the same rank. When I was promoted faster than him, his resentment grew, and he started talking about marriage.

My parents’ divorce made me afraid to agree. I kept putting him off and poured myself into work.

Then we competed for the same position.

He demanded that I give it to him.

I refused.

That was when he realized he could no longer control me.

We had a vicious argument, and he threatened to break up. Then he set a trap.

He sent the other woman to make a scene at our office and accuse me of being the mistress.

In the end, I was forced to resign.

When I confronted her, she told me she was pregnant. She said Li Ce would marry her.

I couldn’t swallow the injustice. I couldn’t stand the thought of Li Ce thriving after what he had done.

So I paid a sex worker and used that same rotten scheme.

Li Ce was fired as well.

He called my methods filthy. He called me despicable.

The whole ordeal nearly killed me.

Li Ce and the woman took turns harassing me, making sure I understood that my five-year relationship had been a joke.

Under those twin blows, I was diagnosed with depression.

And I came home.

I had never imagined Li Ce would…

I couldn’t hear what he was saying anymore. I asked security to throw him out.

Then I sat numbly on the grass as my thoughts slipped beyond my control. Tears poured down my face.

Soda was the closest. He noticed first and hurried over, frantically beating me with his tail as he asked,

[Miss Teacher, what’s wrong, Miss Teacher?]

Rice had been howling, [Hungry… food… Dog wants food!]

But the instant he saw me crying, he came to lick me.

[Teacher, Dog isn’t hungry anymore. Don’t cry. Dog won’t eat. Teacher can have it all.]

Little Green Tea raced over from across the yard.

[Daughter dear, who bullied Daughter dear?]

Million had been planning another jailbreak. Now he immediately herded every dog back into the classroom.

[All of you, get inside! You made Teacher angry, do you know that? Stupid dogs.]

Scolding and herding, he shoved the dogs through the door and locked it in one seamless motion. Only then did he creep over to me.

[Don’t cry, miss. I yelled at all of them.]

[Was it that man? Did he bully you?]

[I’ll bite him!]

To Million, the fence might as well not have existed. He shot out of the kindergarten after Li Ce.

Before I could call him back, he vanished.

Then Sangbiao came over and placed a solemn paw on my hand.

[Human, you may weep against Cat’s broad and mighty chest.]

They crowded around me, chattering with concern, and the heaviness inside me began to ease.

I was worried about Million and started to stand so I could look for him.

Then I saw Lin Xunan carrying Million back.

“You are not allowed to bite dogs.”

Million: [His owner bullied miss! You stupid Old Man!]

The moment Lin Xunan saw my face, he released Million and hurried over.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

At that moment, I needed someone to confide in.

I had never told my parents any of it.

As my halting account unfolded, Lin Xunan’s eyes gradually turned cold.

He looked back at Million. “Next time you bite a person, I’ll pay the medical bill.”

Million: [You should’ve said that earlier, fickle Old Man! He’s already gone!]

Speak of the devil, and he returned.

Million had chased and snapped at Li Ce’s dog, frightening it, so Li Ce came back to demand an explanation.

Lin Xunan narrowed his eyes. “You walked right back into it.”

The next second, Million gave the order.

Every dog escaped and charged straight at Li Ce.

His dog had never witnessed anything like it. It bolted immediately.

Amid the chaos, I heard one of the dogs marvel, [Thank goodness it wasn’t on a leash!]

Million’s pack knocked Li Ce to the ground and surrounded him. Million knew where to stop. None of them actually bit. They followed his lead, barking and growling until Li Ce wet himself in public.

Then I made a great show of calling the police.

I explained that Li Ce had been walking his dog without a leash, and that his dog had provoked the kindergarten dogs into attacking as a group.

Since Li Ce hadn’t been bitten and he was the one who had let his dog roam, he bore full responsibility. He even had to pay for the fence the kindergarten dogs damaged.

Someone filmed the spectacular dog charge and posted it online. Li Ce became a public laughingstock.

Only then did I learn that the pregnant woman’s hometown was here. Li Ce had come to discuss their marriage with her family because her pregnancy could no longer be hidden.

The dog belonged to her parents. They spoiled it and refused to use a leash, so it often frightened children.

After this incident, animal control took the dog away.

Under public pressure, the woman’s parents forced her to terminate the pregnancy and firmly rejected the marriage. They even sent people to Li Ce’s hometown to spread the story of how he had coaxed their daughter into an unwed pregnancy.

His reputation there collapsed as well.

Naturally, his parents objected and came here to make trouble.

The two families began an endless, spectacular feud.

As the saying goes, villains will always find worse villains to torment them.

When Lin Xunan next came to my home with cookies and began telling me about the two families, I interrupted him.

“Everyone is watching them now. I already know all this.”

He offered me the box. “Then have a cookie.”

I sighed.

“Lin Xunan, is giving me cookies the only way you know how to pursue someone?”

“N-no.”

“Right. You also give me Million.”

Million, who had just lain down, snapped his head up.

Sangbiao patted him on the head. [Children shouldn’t watch this.]

Lin Xunan looked at me and finally sighed.

“I’m afraid you’ll hate me.

“Chen Lanyue.”

It was true. He always watched me carefully. The slightest hint of displeasure made him retreat, adjust, then try again with infinite caution.

“If I hated you, I wouldn’t let you into my home. I wouldn’t even allow Million here.”

Million’s head rose again.

Lin Xunan’s eyes lit up.

“Then you feel something for me too, don’t you?”

“We can try.”

Over the time we had spent together, I had learned that he was a very, very good man.

And I wanted someone very, very good.

But…

“You know what those five years did to me.”

Lin Xunan pressed a finger gently to my lips. His eyes were impossibly tender.

“I know. If you want to use me as a distraction or a way to heal, I don’t mind.

“I’ll do everything I can to love you, and I will make you fall in love with me.

“Chen Lanyue, I’ve looked up to you since high school. I’m used to looking up. I don’t want you to lower your head.”

My heart trembled, and I wrapped my arms around him.

He stroked my hair.

“I won’t try to pluck the moon from the sky. I want the moon to hang high. I want my moon to shine forever.”

I want my moon to shine forever.

Soda ran in, looking baffled.

[Why are you crying, Miss Teacher?]

Rice: [Dog is hungry, Teacher…]

Little Green Tea: [Daughter dear, will you still play with Dog now that you have him?]

Million: [Quiet. There are cookies over there.]

Sangbiao: [Cat wants to find a girl cat.]

Million: [Hah. The vanishing-balls spell.]