The Woman and the Dog - Chapter 1

“General Manager, your wife’s dog bit someone.” Secretary Wu rushed into the General Manager’s office.

“What?! Where is she?…”

“At the park.”

“I told her not to get a dog a long time ago, but she just wouldn’t listen! …Didn’t that dog have a collar on? How did it still bite someone?”

“How should I know? She called Little Wang.”

“You and Little Wang hurry up and go. First, get that person to the hospital, so they don’t get rabies.” The General Manager shook his head, angrily puffing out a cloud of smoke.

“That old woman, why couldn’t she just get a nice lap dog? She just had to get a wolfdog. All she does is cause trouble!” Secretary Wu grumbled in the car.

“Exactly, exactly. A lap dog is so much better. They don’t bite people. Wolfdogs are too fierce,” Little Wang echoed, driving the car.

“My little dog is so well-behaved, never makes a fuss. It only ‘woofs’ at me when I open its kennel every day; when I squat down, it stands up straight, extends its front paws to shake hands with me, and even licks my hand!” Secretary Wu’s face lit up whenever she talked about her lap dog.

“Your little dog is indeed good. Its fur is beautiful! Pure white, not a single stray hair, everyone loves it.”

When Secretary Wu heard this, she felt as proud and satisfied as if she had been complimented on her youth and beauty by men in person.

Little Wang added, “The wolfdog that the General Manager’s wife owns isn’t just big, it often bares its teeth, it’s terrifying. I really don’t understand how a woman could like such a ferocious creature!”

“She can’t even have children, she’s idle all day, just looking for trouble. Now look, she got someone bitten, and the General Manager will probably have to pay several thousand yuan again.” Secretary Wu’s heart sank at the thought of compensation.

At the park, the General Manager’s wife stood in the shade of a tree, gesturing with her hand, arguing gruffly with a few migrant workers. Her other hand tightly gripped the dog’s leash, an iron chain wrapped around it. The wolfdog that had bitten the person stood quietly, its mouth open, its long tongue hanging down and trembling, seemingly unconcerned by what had just happened.

The migrant worker who had been bitten by the dog held up his bloody hand, his face distorted with pain. His companions surrounded the General Manager’s wife, demanding compensation.

“They’re here! They’re here!” The General Manager’s wife exclaimed, seeing Secretary Wu and Little Wang enter the park as if they were saviors.

Little Wang greeted the General Manager’s wife, then introduced himself to the migrant workers.

Secretary Wu glanced at the sweating General Manager’s wife, but didn’t say a word to her. She just told the injured person and two of his companions to get in the car and go to the hospital.

“I’ll come back for you later,” Little Wang said softly to the General Manager’s wife.

Little Wang drove back to the park from the hospital. The General Manager’s wife, who had been sitting by the gate, eagerly got into the car with the wolfdog.

“Are you going home?” Little Wang asked cautiously.

“Home! Hmph! Today’s really unlucky! That damn dog, I had no idea it was so interested in lamb skewers. As soon as it smelled them, it lunged forward like its life depended on it, biting both the person’s hand and the skewers. That goddamn thing, I’ll deal with you when we get home!” She gave the dog’s head a hard pat.

“Your dog is truly mighty! It must be a capable guard dog. With some more training, it won’t act so recklessly in the future,” Little Wang said.

“That’s right. Hmph! That shameless bitch, she really got to show off today.” The General Manager’s wife caressed the dog’s head.

“Ah, that’s nothing. Let her handle the troublesome things. Isn’t it better for you to go home and relax quietly now?”

“Hmph! That shameless bitch, as if she doesn’t own a dog. I get disgusted just thinking about her hugging that lap dog!…”

“Exactly, exactly. That lap dog is so dirty, what’s so good about it? It just bows its head, fawns, and wags its tail for pity, but it can’t guard the house or courtyard, it’s useless. I really don’t know what Secretary Wu is thinking, she should get a good wolfdog, but she insists on a lap dog! It’s strange, she’s not afraid of dirt at all. One time, the puppy had just finished pooping, and she reached out with both hands, hugged it in her arms, stroking and kissing it. It made me want to vomit. Our General Manager is very against her owning a lap dog.”

When Little Wang returned to the company, it was already past closing time. Actually, he could have driven both the General Manager and his wife home, but the General Manager couldn’t tolerate a dog riding in the car with him. Even if he found any traces of a dog in the car, he’d fly into a rage.

Little Wang parked the car, carefully checked the back seat, and only after finding no dog hair, paw prints, or anything of the sort, did he close the car door with a relieved sigh and walk into the office building.

“General Manager.”

“Hmm, you’re back.” The General Manager was engrossed in his work, showing no intention of going home.

Little Wang went to the duty room and read the newspaper for a while before he saw the General Manager come downstairs.

As soon as the General Manager got in the car, he pulled out his phone.

“Hello, Secretary Wu, how was the matter handled?”

“Including medical expenses, it cost a total of one thousand five. It’s nothing big.”

“Nothing big?! …What about the person who was bitten? Did they get a rabies vaccine?”

“Yes, they did. It was a migrant worker. The doctor said it’s fine, don’t worry.”

“You listen to me, don’t keep dogs anymore. Get rid of the one you have as soon as possible!”

“Get rid of it?! …How?”

“Either give it away or bury it alive.”

“Bury it alive?! You’d actually think of that!” Secretary Wu hung up the phone first.

“These women! Why do they have to keep dogs, of all things?!”

“Exactly, exactly. Keeping fish or birds to relieve boredom is much better. Dogs are truly terrible; they bite people, spread diseases, they’re dirty and smelly, they relieve themselves everywhere, polluting the environment, and they bark and howl in the middle of the night… Ah! All harm and no benefit.”

“I’m thinking, it would be great if there could be a big purge sometime, to eliminate all pet dogs in the entire county!”

“General Manager, brilliant idea! It’s said that in our county alone, at least three hundred people are bitten by dogs every year, and there are never fewer than three deaths from rabies. If there were no pet dogs, such things wouldn’t happen!”

As soon as the General Manager entered his home, he saw his wife sitting on the sofa, looking at him timidly like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting to be scolded.

“I’ve already arranged it with Little Wang. Tomorrow, his cousin will come and take your dog to guard an orchard. Don’t keep it here to annoy me!”

“Then… can I still go see it?” She sighed with relief, asking softly.

The General Manager glared at her fiercely.

A week later.

Little Wang called his cousin: “How’s that wolfdog? Can it guard the orchard?”

“Guard the orchard? It just howls wildly as soon as it gets to the orchard. It barks when it sees strangers, it barks when it sees little birds, it barks when it sees mice, it even barks when it sees butterflies. It howled non-stop for three days and three nights without eating, drinking, or sleeping. The day before yesterday, I called a few people, we covered it with a basket, threw it into the fish pond and drowned it. Then we butchered and ate it.”

“What?! …You bastard!! How could you do that?! I’ll skin you alive!!…”

“Why are you so angry, Cousin? Just say the dog ran away, wouldn’t that work? It saves that old hag from always coming over here.”

“Hmph! You idiot! Eating dog meat in this heat, aren’t you afraid of getting sick!”

“It’s fine, dozens of people ate it. Dog meat is really fragrant.”

Another week passed.

After dinner, the General Manager went for a walk alone along the riverside path. There were few cars and people here. He walked slowly, pondering some issues. He looked up and saw Secretary Wu standing enchantingly by a car not far ahead, smiling as she looked at him. He hesitated for a moment, then walked over quickly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you…”

The General Manager looked into the car but didn’t see Little Wang. He looked forward again and saw Little Wang playing with the lap dog in the shade of a tree.

“Xiao Bai! Come here!”

The little dog heard the call and immediately ran towards Secretary Wu, with Little Wang following close behind.

Secretary Wu made a gesture, and the little dog suddenly stopped; she made another gesture, and the dog stood upright. Secretary Wu loudly commanded: “One-two-one! One-two-one!…”

The little dog actually started walking upright, like a human.