”Wild boar! There’s a wild boar!“

”What wild boar! That’s a bear!“

”A bear’s come into the village—Run for your lives—”

The moment Dager appeared in Dongjia Village, he set off a chorus of shrieking kids. After they’d yelled the adults out of their houses, everyone got a good scolding when it turned out to be a false alarm. Especially the loudmouth among them—got his butt whacked with a broom handle right at the doorstep.

“I’ll teach you to spread nonsense! Can’t even tell a dog from a bear!”

“Waaah… but why is that bear called a ‘dog bear’…”

The boy wiped away tears, his face flushed and neck strained from crying.

Of course, beyond disciplining children, the villagers were mostly wary of this sudden stranger with a large dog.

The woman who’d been disciplining her child initially eyed Huo Ling and Dager warily, even calling her husband out from inside. But when she saw Yan Qi emerge from behind Huo Ling, her expression softened slightly.

Yan Qi truly looked extremely kind-hearted; no matter how one looked at him, he didn’t seem like a bad person.

Seeing the woman’s nervousness, he glanced at Huo Ling and stepped forward to speak: “Greetings, ma’am. We’re from another village, here looking for someone.”

Before the woman could respond, her husband barked out in a gruff voice: “Who are you looking for? Which village are you from?”

Yan Qi remained unperturbed, offering a gentle smile. “Good day, sir. We’re from Xiashan Village. We’re looking for the Dong Chengcai family. Their dog was entrusted to someone recently to be brought here for breeding with our dog.”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about! I heard a word about it from Mrs. Dong. Never thought we’d find them so quickly.”

Hearing it was about dog breeding, the woman snorted. Seeing Yan Qi’s story matched up with the Dong family’s, she apologized, “If you’d mentioned this earlier, we wouldn’t have asked so many questions. But thieves just hit our village, and before that, peddlers came through. We have to stay alert.”

“Staying vigilant is only right. Outsiders coming to our village—we’ll ask them a few more questions too.”

Her husband listened for a while before stepping out to get a closer look at Dager, marveling at it.

“My goodness, what a sturdy dog! Wife, I tell you, no wonder our son mistook it! Come see for yourself!”

“Off you both go! You two are cut from the same cloth, always plotting to annoy me.”

The woman brushed past her husband, impatiently waving her hand twice to shoo him away. She then turned to Huo Ling and Yan Qi with a friendly tone: “Dong Chengcai’s house is in the center of the village, near the eastern end. Follow the village road, count four courtyards, then take the path that turns right. Just follow the dog’s barking, and you’ll find it.”

Her young son, already forgetting the pain of his recent injury, clutched his bottom and volunteered, “Mom, I’ll show them the way!”

Seeing his mother’s displeased expression, he persisted, “Mom, please let me go! I want to see the dogs mating!”

Huo Ling and Yan Qi nearly burst out laughing.

The woman felt utterly mortified and tried to drag the boy back inside, but his father cheerfully interjected, “We’ve got nothing else to do right now. Let’s all go take a look.”

Thus, not only did the woman fail to keep her son home, but she herself was persuaded by her husband. Closing the courtyard gate behind them, she followed Huo Ling and Yan Qi.

Somewhat wary of Dager, she kept a good six or seven paces behind.

As they made their way to Dong Chengcai’s house, a trail of onlookers gradually formed behind them, all drawn by the novelty. Two young lads walked along munching on peanuts, scattering shells everywhere.

Just as the woman had said, the moment they reached the crossroads, the sound of barking reached their ears.

Dager immediately barked back twice. Hearing this, the barks grew louder.

Yan Qi looked worried. “They won’t start fighting when they meet, will they?”

Huo Ling hesitated. “It shouldn’t come to that.”

To put it bluntly, pairing males and females is natural for animals. Unless they truly couldn’t get along at all, in which case, it wouldn’t be forced.

Before Huo Ling could call out to someone, a nosy villager had already gone to knock on their door for them.

“Chengcai! Are you home? Folks from Xiashan Village are here with a dog to match with your Hongguo’er!”

Only then did the couple learn that the female dog from that household was named Hongguo’er. The name itself sounded delightful; clearly, thought had gone into choosing it.

Most village mutts were named after their coat colors—Big Yellow, Big Black, Big Spotty—so calling out on the road would make several dogs turn their heads.

Dong Chengcai soon emerged in straw sandals, mud still clinging to the soles, likely from tending the vegetable patch in the backyard.

Opening the door to find over a dozen people gathered outside, he took a startled step back. “What’s going on here?” he exclaimed.

Huo Ling and Yan Qi stepped forward to introduce themselves, presenting the gifts they’d brought. Besides the offerings for Hongguo’er, there were also gifts for the Dong family—after all, one never visits empty-handed.

Their home wasn’t short of things to give away. They’d gathered a few dried mountain delicacies, and what they presented was certainly respectable.

Dong Chengcai hadn’t expected the Huo family to be so thoughtful. He hurriedly invited the two inside, calling out to his husband and children to come out and receive the guests.

Hongguo’er and Dager glared at each other. Though scolded by their respective owners into silence, they still whimpered softly. Hongguo’er, in particular, saw Dager as an intruding dog on her territory. Seeing him attempt to advance further, Hongguo’er positioned herself in front of Dager, adopting a defensive stance and refusing to let him pass.

Unlike Dager’s jet-black coat, Hongguo’er—despite the name—was a short-haired white dog with a jet-black nose. She looked far more dainty than Dager, though her frame was equally substantial. Her tail appeared thick and sturdy, the kind that would deliver a painful bite.

“Oh my, this fellow came specially for us—why must we make enemies now?”

Since today’s protagonists were not humans but two dogs, after the Dong family emerged, Huo Ling and Yan Qi frankly stated they weren’t in a hurry to enter for tea. They insisted on settling the dogs first.

“Has Brother Dong ever bred dogs before?” Huo Ling inquired.

Dong Chengcai shook his head. “Truthfully, no. To be honest, Hongguo’er is the first dog our family has ever kept. If not for the great service it rendered this time, I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble just to preserve its bloodline. But I figured it couldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Come spring, even a stray cat or dog could wander out and return with kittens or puppies. To him, it seemed as simple as locking two dogs in a room together for a while.

Huo Ling pondered for a moment before saying, “In that case, why not let my husband give it a try?”

Huo Ling had already discussed this with Yan Qi on the way, suggesting that if the Dong family lacked expertise, they should come directly to avoid a wasted trip.

Yan Qi’s family dog, Dahuang, had mated with several female dogs before. Yan Qi had learned some tricks from his father.

“That’s wonderful! Come on over. Don’t let my Hongguo’er’s fierce barking scare you—she’s actually very well-behaved. Once she knows you’re good people, she’ll stop barking.”

Dong Chengcai’s family members came to calm Hongguo’er. Hearing Huo Ling’s words, they immediately asked Yan Qi how to proceed.

Yan Qi glanced at Huo Ling, who gave a slight nod. Encouraged, he spoke up: “We need a quiet, spacious room. Sweep it clean. First, we’ll bring Dager in to get familiar with the place. Once he’s relaxed, we’ll lead Hongguo in.”

The Dong family’s husband immediately suggested, “Then use the wood shed! Ours is quite large, with only dry firewood stacked against the walls and a few grain jars placed inside.”

Yan Qi took a look and agreed it would be perfect.

As for the onlookers who had gathered to watch the spectacle, upon hearing that the dog mating would take place indoors with the door closed, they found it rather dull and dispersed.

Their departure was welcome—now they could have complete peace without interruption.

The two men led Dager inside first, pulling a strip of homemade jerky from their pockets to feed him.

After eating, Dager sniffed around every corner of the room. But upon catching Hongguo’er’s scent, he refused to lie down, pacing restlessly instead.

“This is a good sign. It shows he’s interested in Hongguo. If he were completely disinterested, like you said before, he wouldn’t react like this.”

Yan Qi scratched Dager’s chin and held his head as he spoke, “Dager, would you like to have a litter of puppies with your Hongguo? Then you could take your puppies up the mountain to hunt together. You could teach them to catch rabbits and dig out mice from their burrows.”

When Yan Qi spoke to the dog, he always unconsciously slipped into a tone used to coax children, even his pronunciation becoming soft and gentle.

Listening nearby, his heart melted completely, and the corners of his mouth lifted without him realizing it.

Dager, whether he understood or not, licked Yan Qi’s hand affectionately moments later.

Yan Qi felt the timing was right and motioned for Huo Ling to go outside and call the Dong family to bring Hongguo’er inside.

The big white dog paced at the door a few times before being urged inside by its owner. Yan Qi glanced at Dager, then pulled another piece of dried meat from his pocket for Hongguo’er.

Dager showed no sign of guarding his food. Hongguo’er sniffed it, then gobbled it down in two bites before licking its lips.

Dogs are clever creatures, knowing whose food they’re eating. Yan Qi seized the moment, guiding Hongguo’er forward to sniff Dager.

Both families watched nervously from the sidelines, not uttering a sound. Yan Qi had insisted on silence, explaining that if the dogs heard their owners’ voices, they’d forget about each other.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the two dogs showed no sign of fighting. The people inside then silently withdrew, leaving the woodshed door half-closed.

Bonded by their dogs, these kind-hearted people had much to share. Huo Ling and Yan Qi listened in awe as the Dong family recounted Hongguo’er’s daring theft-thwarting exploits.

In turn, Huo Ling shared some of his experiences with Dager in the mountains, captivating the Dong family as they listened.

Yan Qi then recited several dog-judging mantras: “Among all coat colors, white is truly supreme. Among white dogs, black noses reign supreme. Red or spotted noses are inferior—Hongguo’s is perfect.”

He also explained that to judge a dog’s potential for training, one must observe the whiskers on its chin.

“As the saying goes: ‘First the King, second the Tiger, third the Ordinary, fourth the Rich.’”

Dong Chengcai’s second son was a boy named Xingge, fourteen years old, not much younger than Yan Qi.

Finding the conversation intriguing, he had nearly pushed his way to Yan Qi’s side. Hearing this, he eagerly asked, “I understand ‘king’ and ‘tiger,’ but what does ‘third is ordinary, fourth is rich’ mean?”

Yan Qi explained, “Ordinary means unremarkable. Wealth refers to dogs with four whiskers bringing prosperity to the household.”

The Dong family began recalling how many whiskers Hongguo’er had, agreeing she seemed to have four. She’d chased away thieves and protected their wealth—wasn’t that bringing prosperity?

Time flew by in their casual chatter. Eventually, sensing something was about to happen, both families grew restless on the kang. They moved to the courtyard, pricking up their ears at the woodshed door.

After a while, they heard Hongguo’er’s voice change pitch several times inside the shed. Soon after, Dager also called out, though his voice wasn’t particularly loud—it sounded more like the playful tone he used when having fun.

Huo Ling sighed with relief. “This is promising. It should have worked.”

Yan Qi then entered the room, circled Hongguo’er, and nodded. “He mounted her, but whether she’s impregnated remains uncertain. We’ll need to wait another half-month to tell.”

He then instructed the Dong family on how to determine if Hongguo’er was pregnant. The Dong family’s husband lit a fire and boiled a broth with meat and bones for both dogs to eat.

Dager slurped down the broth to satisfy his craving. While it was still early, Huo Ling and Yan Qi took their leave from the Dong family, preparing to return to their village.

They agreed that if Hongguo’er became pregnant with puppies, they would send word to Xiashan Village.

Dong Chengcai, who had taken a liking to them, seemed reluctant to part ways. He insisted on seeing them to the village entrance.

He even brought a sack of homegrown red-skinned peanuts for them to take home.

Yet today seemed particularly dog-filled. Upon reaching the village entrance, Huo Ling noticed the boy who’d been beaten earlier chasing a half-grown yellow dog alongside several other village children.

It wasn’t a chase with malice, just playful roughhousing.

But the yellow dog was so thin you could see its ribs. It didn’t look like a pet, and its four white paws instantly reminded him of the big yellow dog back at Yan Qi’s hometown.

Glancing over, he saw Yan Qi had clearly noticed too, craning his neck to watch.

He asked Dong Chengcai whose dog it was. Dong Chengcai, hands behind his back, replied, “There’s no one’s dog. Nobody keeps it. One day, it just showed up in the village. It goes begging for food from every household, but few have extra rice to spare. So it goes hungry one day, full the next.”

Seeing Huo Ling and Yan Qi staring at the yellow dog, he added, “If you like it, why not take it home? I don’t know much about breeds, but it seems good-natured. Even when the kids tug its ears or pull its tail, it doesn’t get annoyed. It’s not one of those vicious dogs that bite.”

The ger hesitated, but Huo Ling ordered Dager to wait behind, lest he scare the puppy by following. He added, “Regardless, let’s go take a closer look. Meeting it is fate.”