Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  The workday had begun.

  Liu Sanlang glanced at a cute selfie profile picture from the QQ Instant Messenger contact list, pressed the buttons Win and L to lock the computer, and stood up to pour himself a coffee. The company provided free coffee for its employees. It wasn’t the best coffee on earth, but it helped to keep people awake, which was essential to a software engineer like himself.

  Holding the coffee, he was about to head back to his seat to check if she responded to him. As he turned around, he found that the new intern, Ye Yu, was playing on his cellphone and the girl intern, Bei Feng, was standing next to him watching.

  Unhappily, Liu Sanlang’s eyebrows tightened. He coughed quietly in the hope of getting the kid’s attention. They shouldn’t have been playing on the cellphone at work because they could be fired if the boss found out.

  However, Ye Yu was way too focused on his phone. His two thumbs were dancing rapidly on the screen. Excitement was all over his face. Interestedly, Bei Feng was also pointing at Ye Yu’s cellphone. Who knows what they are doing! They didn’t hear Liu Sanlang’s warning at all.

  Liu Sanlang looked around and confirmed the boss was not around. Walking up to the interns, he knocked at Ye Yu’s desk and said, “Hey, what are you doing? Gaming is not allowed at work.”


  Frightened, Ye Yu looked up. His cell phone slipped out of his hand and landed on the floor. Sticking out her tongue, Bei Feng made a face and left.

  Liu Sanlang was nervous. Look at them. Are they secretly dating each other? Ye Yu, what a jerk! He is getting girls from the office!

  “I am sorry, Sir. I will never do that again!” Ignoring his cellphone, Ye Yu stood up and apologized with his head down.

  “You are lucky that it was me. If the boss saw you two playing on your phone, what do you think would have happened?” Acting like a senior employee, Liu Sanlang said this seriously.

  Liu and Ye Yu graduated from the same college. Ye Yu had been addressing him as “sir”, which made Liu Sanlang feel good. He would tell Ye Yu some office survival tips from time to time, including right now.

  “I am really sorry! Thank you, Sir!” Ye Yu kept bowing to Liu Sanlang and said, “I promise I won’t do it again.”


  “Hmm, that’s fine,” Liu Sanlang bent down and picked up Ye Yu’s phone. “You focus too much on your cellphone. That’s not good.”


  Instead of a game on the screen, there was a full list of dog photos. Liu Sanlang had seen that dog in his villa. They were Schnauzers that looked like white-bearded grandfathers.

  “What are you doing? Selling dogs?” he asked curiously.

  “Nope, of course not…” Being shy, Ye Yu looked around and said quietly, “Senior, I am only telling this to you. Please don’t circulate it. I am trying to get a girl through owning a dog…”


  “What?” Surprised with his mouth wide open, Liu Sanlang spilled half of the coffee in his mug.

  “Well, honestly, I have been single for 23 years. I am eager to get a girlfriend. That’s why I am a bit desperate.” Ye Yu looked even more embarrassed. “I will become a leftover man if I am unable to get a girlfriend.”


  “Wait! Tell me exactly what your plan is,” Liu Sanlang was extremely interested.

  Stunned, Ye Yu said, “Sir, you want me to tell you now? What if the boss comes over?”


  “The boss is nothing! Tell me!”


  “Hmm… okay.”


  Ye Yu was amazed by how quickly Liu Sanlang changed his attitude. Ye Yu paused for a second and said, “Sir, as you know, many girls love pets, right? Pets such as kittens and puppies. I bought a puppy from a pet shop and was hoping to … post my dog’s pictures online to attract girls, you know… I could probably also meet some girls when I walk my dog…”


  “Did you meet one?” Liu Sanlang continued asking.

  “Hmm… I…” Ye Yu sputtered a few words.

  “Come on!”


  “Honestly, Sir, my dog walking plan is a failure. I realized it only after getting a dog though. Most people who walk their dogs are either senior or middle-aged citizens. I haven’t met girls at all… and now I have become the freaking middle-aged lady’s friend in my villa!” Ye Yu said with frustration.

  “…”


  Liu Sanlang was speechless.

  “However, I did find out that many girls have a dog, but they were too lazy to walk their dog, so they have their parents or grandparents walk it.” Ye Yu said, “Now the most popular thing is raising dogs or cats on the internet. Do you know about that?”


  “Raising dogs or cats on the internet?” Liu Sanlang had heard about this, yet never paid attention.

  “That means many people are too busy with work and life. They don’t necessarily have the time to take care of pets. Some people then look at other people’s pets online and imagine that it’s their own pet,” Ye Yu explained.

  “So… did you get a girl or not?” Liu Sanlang started to get impatient.

  “Well, very likely… That’s all I can say,” Ye Yu looked at Bei Feng secretly. “Sir, why do you care? You probably have a girlfriend already, right?”


  Liu Sanlang murmured, “Umm, Yeah…”


  Having something else on his mind, Liu Sanlang turned around, walked a few steps, turned back and said, “Don’t play on your phone anymore! The office is not a place to get girls! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”


  “Understood!” Ye Yu promised.

  Taking his half-spilled coffee back to his seat, Liu Sanlang typed in the password to unlock the computer. Looking again in the contact list on QQ Instant Messenger, there was a cute selfie of a girl named Shi Shi.

  He sent a thoughtful message to Shi Shi earlier this morning: “Shi Shi, how is your computer running? I haven’t asked you since the last time I helped you restore the system. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.”


  Shi Shi worked in the same company yet in a different department. Therefore, he didn’t see her very often. Sometime even when he saw her, they didn’t really talk. Shi Shi always hung out with her besties like Zhao Qi. She only thought of Liu Sanlang when her computer was down.

  Liu Sanlang knew that she wasn’t interested in him. Sometimes he didn’t even understand why he had to thicken up his skin to draw her attention. Yet every time he saw her beautiful smile, his heart melted.

  Beep beep!

  Shi Shi’s profile picture was flashing.

  Liu Sanlang quickly clicked on her flashing profile picture and looked at the pop-up window as if a desert traveler found an oasis. Every movement was so spontaneous and fluid, without even having to go through his brain.

  Shi Shi wrote, “Fine.”


  It couldn’t be simpler than her response. Even one more word to him was a waste of her time.

  Liu Sanlang was deep in thought. “Did she mean her computer was fine or did she mean… ‘Fine, I will come to you if there is any problem’?”


  He wished it was the latter.

  He wished she could use 0 and 1 to express herself. Maybe he would understand her better that way?

  Oh! He clicked on Shi Shi’s most updated status. There was a nice selfie of her with a cute victory gesture. Along with the selfie there was a comment, “Annoying! Another bestie turned into a cat owner! Who should I hang out with next?”


  She was so cute! He stared at her cute little face, quietly.

  He then carefully sent another message, “Shi Shi, do you hate cats?”


  He thought he would have to wait for hours to get a response. Unexpectedly, she responded immediately, “It is not fair! All my besties are too busy with their pets!”


  He then wrote, “Do you hate dogs?”


  After a bit, she responded, “Puppies? I like the cute ones.”


  He continued, “Do you have a dog?”


  Shi Shi, “Nope. Keeping pets is too much work.”


  Liu Sanlang recalled a new thing he just learned about: raising dogs or cats on the internet. Immediately, he found Ye Yu’s web ID – Great Chieftain of Thunder Bluff. He messaged him, “Where did you get your dog? I… I want to follow your example to get a girlfriend.”


  My friend, my neighbor, my coworker, my classmate… word of mouth is the best marketing tool indeed.