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

  Zhang Zian quietly stood aside and watched the confrontation between Qian Bowen and his son with a smile. Although Qian Bowen failed to train his previous dog to be obedient, he still had the opportunity to correct his son’s bad habits. He must not grant his son’s requests easily every time this kid cried or screamed.

  Raising a dog was like raising a son. Conversely, raising a son was like raising a dog.

  This family was not suitable for raising Beagles. As the netizens said, if Qian Bowen and his son insisted on raising a Beagle, this decision would benefit no one.

  Of course, even if Small Money really wanted to buy a dog with his own lucky money, Zhang Zian would not sell a dog to him because Small Money was a minor with limited legal capacity. The transaction of pets involved more than payments and delivery, Zhang Zian and his customers must also sign the pet sale agreement and go through other formalities. The pet sale agreement would be invalid if a minor signed upon it. Zhang Zian would not allow such a silly thing to happen.

  The same was true for Snowy. Instead of asking for rewards, she often reminded her under-age audiences on her live broadcast channel, Weibo, and WeChat public account not to reward her using their parents’ money. Snowy’s behaviors made her audience like her even more.

  Small Money struggled for a long time. On a weighing scale in his mind, Nintendo Switch was placed on one end, while a Beagle was sitting on the other end. Which could bring more happiness to him?

  Slowly, the balance tilted in the direction of Switch. Obviously, the weight of Switch in his heart was heavier.

  “Then…then…I won’t buy it today…Anyway, Lunar New Year is coming. I will come back to buy a dog with this year’s lucky money! Even if you don’t buy it for me, I will buy it myself!” said Small Money.

  “OK, whatever you want. If you want to come again, I will accompany you.” Qian Bowen laughed.

  Qian Bowen looked at the time. It was almost time for him to leave. He had to work night shifts tonight, so he had to eat early at noon and go to bed hurriedly after lunch. Now he had to go buy food and cook lunch at home. So, he said goodbye to Zhang Zian, “Manager Zhang, thank you so much today. Thanks to you, I have learned that there is so much information about raising dogs. And I have never met such a conscientious shop owner like you who would actually persuade his customers not to buy pets … But you can rest assured, I will buy a dog from your shop eventually—when my son grows up a bit, or when we decide to raise a less troublesome dog. I will definitely come to buy a dog from your place when I am ready to raise a dog again.”


  Zhang Zian was also very distressed. But he felt that if this family bought a Beagle, they would either come back to return the dog within a few days, or a hot and new topic would appear on Weibo a while later—”An unscrupulous pet shop owner sold a dog to a customer, causing the customer to encounter major operational accidents on the assembly line” … In that case, it would be better for Zhang Zian not to sell the dog to them.

  “Boy, let’s go home.” Qian Bowen said to his son.

  Small Money yearningly looked at the Beagle a few more times, and then left with his father dejectedly. Before leaving, he told Zhang Zian, “Manager, remember to leave this dog for me. When I get my lucky money, I will come and buy it.”


  “Let’s talk about that when you come back.” Zhang Zian said casually.

  When the noisy father and his son left, the store finally quieted down a bit.

  Although he had said a lot of words, he failed to close the deal. Zhang Zian picked up a cup of tea that he prepared in advance and drank it, moistening his throat and reducing his internal heat.

  Vivi felt that this trip to the pet shop was worthwhile because she seemed to have learned a lot of things. Although it was a pity that she could not be surrounded by a lot of cats…She looked around the shop and laid eyes on Masanori Suzuhara. Vivi felt that there was something wrong with this Japanese girl, then she quietly poked Snowy.

  Snowy was interacting with the netizens but reminded by Vivi, Snowy noticed that Masanori Suzuhara was crying in front of a display cabinet that contained a Beagle.

  “Hello, Miss Suzuhara, are you uncomfortable?” The warm-hearted Snowy approached Masanori Suzuhara and asked her with concern.

  “Ah, no, I am not feeling unwell. I just…have recalled something in the past.” Masanori Suzuhara quickly rubbed her tearful eyes and dredged up a smile.

  “Wipe your tears away, or the tear stains will hurt your skin in this cold weather.” Snowy thoughtfully handed Suzuhara a paper towel. Suzuhara repeatedly thanked Snowy, took the paper towel and wiped away her tears.

  “Manager, excuse me, can I buy this Beagle?” Masanori Suzuhara asked Zhang Zian.

  Zhang Zian was stunned and said to himself. Was today Beagle Day? Why does everyone want to raise a Beagle today?

  “You can… but did you hear my conversation with other customers just now? The Beagle has a cute appearance, but it is difficult to raise this breed of dog. If you want to buy it because it’s cute, then I advise you…” he said euphemistically.

  Masanori Suzuhara clarified, “No, it’s not like that! I like Snoopy very much. I like Beagles. They are very poor…”


  “Do you know the characteristics of this breed of dog?” Zhang Zian intended to test her to see if she truly understood Beagles.

  “I do. Snoopy loves barking, playing, and being close to human beings. I spent more than two years with Beagles…” As she spoke, she looked increasingly in dismay.

  Masanori Suzuhara was a student of a medical school. Because of her outstanding academic achievement, her professors selected her to become an assistant in a laboratory, where she encountered Beagles for the first time. Since she was the youngest student, she was basically responsible for the trivialities, and her main task was to look after the Beagles in the lab.

  There was a Beagle that was more than one year old in the laboratory. It highly resembled the Beagle in Zhang Zian’s pet shop. They looked almost exactly the same. The professors and the senior students in the lab all called that Beagle Snoopy, so she also called it Snoopy.

  Just like Masanori Suzuhara, Snoopy was also a newcomer to the laboratory. Its lively and cheerful personality immediately won her favor.

  Every morning, she was always the first one to arrive at the laboratory to prepare the experimental equipment for her professors and the senior students. After that, she would run with Snoopy. There were two treadmills in the lab, one was for people and the other one was for dogs. She and Snoopy ran on the treadmills together and she would record its breathing, heartbeat, body temperature and other data before and after running. Occasionally, she would draw blood from Snoopy and then analyze its feces and urine…She had naively assumed that the aforementioned had covered all the aspects of the experiment.

  Seeing Masanori Suzuhara become too close to Snoopy, those senior students had repeatedly and subtly reminded her not to. They suggested that if she likes dogs, she might as well raise a pet dog. However, she did not agree with them, and then she continued playing with Snoopy every day.

  One day, when she came to the lab in the morning, she couldn’t find Snoopy. In desperation, she notified the security staff in the laboratory right away, asking them to help her find Snoopy. At that moment, she vaguely heard the familiar and penetrating barking from further inside the lab. It was Snoopy’s cry.

  Masanori Suzuhara followed the sound and found that Snoopy was locked in a sealed experimental apparatus. It was curling up inside the instrument and was foaming at the mouth. When Snoopy heard her footsteps, it raised its head and looked at her through the clear glass as if asking for help. Then, it staggered forward, placing its nose against the glass. Whimpering, its eyes were full of pain.

  What’s going on?

  She was stunned.

  Why is Snoopy here?

  The senior students who arrived later regretfully told her that this was the fate of Snoopy. Like lab rats, the Beagles in the laboratory were also for experiments.

  It was not until then did she truly understand Beagles.

  Among all dog breeds, Beagles were basically the healthiest ones with the least genetic diseases. Meanwhile, their sizes were moderate, they were docile and easy to control. The most important thing was that Beagles loved being close to human beings. Even if people beat them or tortured them with the painful experiments, they would not hold any grudge or resentment against human beings. Even after being abused by human beings for thousands of times, Beagles would still treat human beings as their first love.

  In addition, the purebred Beagles were not expensive, and they were genetically stable, so they were especially suitable for the researches of pharmacology, toxicology, cyclic physiology, and surgery. It was also convenient for different laboratories in all places to compare the data they had gained through Beagles. Among all experimental dogs in the world, Beagles had accounted for 98%. Thousands of Beagles were sacrificed for the advancement of human medicine every year.

  The longer lifespan of human beings was achieved at the expense of Beagles. But Beagles’ hardships were more than that. Despite the official prohibitions in many countries, a few cosmetics companies and lifestyle-products company still secretly used Beagles to test the toxicity of their products.

  Throughout the day, Masanori Suzuhara shed tears while watching Snoopy as it was injected with a certain dosage of toxic agent in the experimental device. She observed and recorded its toxic reactions, and then injected the antidote to Snoopy to observe and record its reactions as Snoopy gradually returned to normal. In the end, she drew blood from Snoopy and examined its urine every hour, analyzing the toxin residue in its body to obtain such valuable data as the metabolic rate of the toxin… She couldn’t bear to look at Snoopy anymore, but those senior students needed her to stay there because her presence could soothe and calm Snoopy.

  She told herself repeatedly. This was for the advancement of human medicine. This was to save more people’s lives.

  Rationally, there was no essential difference between experimenting with a rat and experimenting with a Beagle. But emotionally, it was very difficult for her to accept that Snoopy was used in the experiment.

  When the endless experiment was finally over, led by the professors, those senior students eagerly devoted themselves to analyzing the data, looking forward to the completion and publication of a new paper of high-quality. Snoopy dragged its tired body out of the experimental apparatus, smiled at Masanori Suzuhara as if nothing had happened and ran to her cheerfully. It fell halfway and struggled to get up again. Masanori Suzuhara could even see the muscles twitching in Snoopy’s legs.

  “I’m sorry, Snoopy, I’m sorry!” She held it in her arms and apologized repeatedly.

  Snoopy stuck out its warm tongue and licked the tears from her face. It had forgotten all the displeasure, simply because it was happy to be embraced by its owner.

  The days after the first experiment went back to normal.

  She was still the first one who came to the lab every morning. She fed Snoopy, ran with it, keeping track of such data as breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature. She occasionally drew the blood of Snoopy and tested its feces and urine, but she was more careful and gentler than before. Just like the Japanese society, the laboratory was rigidly stratified. As the youngest student in the lab, she did not know when the next experiment would be held, and no one had told her that. Hence, she could only make the best use of her time to make Snoopy happy.

  The second experiment came faster than she expected.

  Almost immediately after Snoopy had recovered its health, it was forced to undergo another experiment. This time, Snoopy was to test a new drug that was in the developmental process. This new drug had broad market prospects, but it was still rather immature, for it would sting the stomach strongly and may cause vomiting.

  Snoopy needed to swallow certain doses of pills this time, and then through blood drawing and urine tests, the students would analyze the concentration of the pills in its blood as well as the rate of metabolism to excrete the component of the pills from its body.

  However, according to the information, the pills were likely to cause vomiting if Snoopy ate them. If Snoopy spat out the pills, the experiment failed. Hence, Masanori Suzuhara who had always been responsible for the trivialities in the lab was required to participate in the experiment. The professors arranged her to hold Snoopy in her arms, pressing tightly of its mouth to keep it from spewing the pills, until the pills had dissolved in its stomach.

  How cruel this task was!

  When she heard the professors’ words, Masanori Suzuhara felt that ice water was splattering on her head.

  But she had no way to stop the experiment. Whether or not she would participate, this experiment would be carried out. If she did not press Snoopy’s mouth, other senior students would.

  So, she decided that she would do it, at least she would be gentler to Snoopy.

  She could have left this matter to others by taking a day off. She could leave the lab and come back when the experiment was over. In that way, not only could she escape the suffering in her mind, but she could appear in front of Snoopy as a savior. She could hold Snoopy gently in her arms to appease it, so that Snoopy would think that the others were bad people, and she was the only good person.

  But she did not leave. She hoped that Snoopy would recognize her true self. She would not mind even if Snoopy would hate her.

  The experiment began.

  At the professor’s request, she stuffed the powder into capsules and mixed them with Snoopy’s favorite snacks.

  Snoopy happily ate the snacks without any doubts.

  When it finished eating, Masanori Suzuhara sat on a chair and patted her thigh.

  It was very sunny that day, making everyone drowsy.

  Snoopy jumped onto her lap, lied down, and basked in the sun comfortably. It opened its mouth and yawned. Drowsiness emerged in its eyes.

  She stroked Snoopy’s back gently, and quietly estimated the melting speed of the capsules. As she figured the capsules had almost melted, she pressed Snoopy’s mouth by placing one hand on its upper lip and the other on its lower lip.

  Snoopy thought that she was going to play a new game with it. It widened its eyes excitedly and sat up. But Masanori Suzuhara lowered her upper body and clamped Snoopy with her legs to keep it from moving.

  “Woof!”


  Snoopy whimpered abruptly. Its body was wriggling violently, and its throat was bulging. She could even feel the scorching hot between Snoopy’s stomach and its throat.

  “Snoopy! Pull yourself together! Snoopy! It will be over in just a moment!”


  She held it tightly, pressing its mouth to prevent it from spewing the medicines. But she did not dare to look into its eyes. She closed her eyes and said the same thing repeatedly.

  As the rapid breathing with the smell of medicine puffed onto her face, Snoopy was struggling increasingly violently. She never knew that there was so much power in Snoopy’s tiny body that she had to use all her efforts to restrain it.

  She did not dare to loosen up. Once she let it go, the experiment would fail, which meant that Snoopy had to go through the nightmare once again.

  She did not know how much time had passed, perhaps a few minutes, maybe an hour. Snoopy’s struggle was getting weaker and its breathing was less rapid.

  The powder had been completely absorbed by Snoopy’s stomach and the vomiting reaction had disappeared.

  She also reduced her pressing strength on Snoopy. Only then did she realize that she was sweating all over.

  She felt cold on her thighs and smelled some peculiar odor.

  She looked down and found that Snoopy had urinated on her lab coat during the struggle.

  Snoopy looked at her guiltily as if it had done something wrong.

  The senior students encouraged her and told her to go home to rest, then they took Snoopy away from her to test its blood and urine.

  She sat dumbly in her seat without moving.

  Snoopy no longer appeared in front of her on this day.

  Though she suffered from insomnia that night, she was still the first one to arrive at the lab the next morning. She was ready to bear Snoopy’s hateful glare against her.

  As soon as Snoopy saw her, it barked with excitement and ran to her feet, shaking its tail and tried to play with her. It acted like this every morning in the past and nothing had changed.

  “Hate me! Bite me! Snoopy! I have done such cruel things to you. Why don’t you hate me or bite me!” Masanori Suzuhara shouted at Snoopy. But when she placed her wrist near its mouth, it did not bite her. Instead, it stuck out its tongue to lick her wrist.

  She felt weak all over and slumped onto the cold floor of the laboratory as if she was confessing her sins.

  Snoopy put its front paw on her lap and wriggled its body nervously, wondering why she was so sad.

  “I’m sorry! Snoopy! I’m sorry!”


  Knowing that her apology was useless, she apologized to Snoopy repeatedly.

  Snoopy didn’t want to hear her apologize. It just wanted to start playing with her earlier.

  Prior to that day, Masanori Suzuhara had no intention of ??going abroad. She was preparing to attend graduate school in Japan. She had calculated the time, upon her graduation from graduate school, Snoopy would almost be seven years old. And theoretically, the seven-year-old Beagles could retire from the lab.

  However, few Beagles could survive the experiments day after day and reach the retirement age. Snoopy was no exception.

  Another experiment.

  She had become accustomed to Snoopy’s recovery from the experiments. To reward Snoopy, she bought its favorite snack the next morning. But when she came to the lab, she found that its bed was empty.

  The senior students told her that Snoopy did not survive this experiment. Its corpse had been sent to the mountain behind the school and was buried there. In that mountain, there was a monument built for the animals deceased in the experiments.

  Masanori Suzuhara had forgotten how she reacted when she heard the news. When she came to herself, she was standing and sobbing in front of the solemn monument. Around her, the bamboos and the grass were whirling.

  The work of the laboratory could not be interrupted. A new Beagle was sent to the lab. Everyone also called it Snoopy.

  It was not until then did she realize that there would always be a Snoopy in the lab.

  Soon, that semester was over. When the new semester began, a cute girl who was a junior schoolmate joined the lab. Masanori Suzuhara was promoted to become a reliable senior. It was the junior sister-in-learning’s turn to take care of Snoopy and attend other trivial matters.

  Masanori Suzuhara applied to become an exchange student at Binhai University. She needed a semester to adjust her mood.

  Before going abroad, as a reliable senior, she advised her lovely and younger schoolmate, “If you want to keep a dog, you might as well raise a pet dog.”


  The junior did not take Masanori Suzuhara’s words seriously, and then she continued to play happily with Snoopy.

  Masanori Suzuhara looked at the junior with a smile and said no more, she called a taxi to the airport, and boarded a flight to China…


  Masanori Suzuhara finished her own story. The pet shop was silent. Only the sobbing of Snowy and Vivi could be heard.