Chapter 95

The two little boys were so awestruck upon seeing Lijian that they seemed to forget how to walk. Their faces were flushed with excitement, looking at the dog like it was a celebrity.

Damao, being more familiar, greeted Lijian cheerfully.

Shi Tingyu introduced the two unfamiliar children to Lijian, knowing that the dog could understand.

After being fed the spirit spring water a few times, Shi Tingyu noticed that Lijian was unusually smart for a dog, understanding much of what was said.

She knew this was due to the spirit spring water.

Sure enough, after the introduction, Lijian wagged its tail at the two boys, significantly reducing its wariness, though it still maintained a bit of a cool demeanor.

Shi Tingyu gave each child a White Rabbit Creamy Candy and let Lijian play with them.

Lijian: …

Oh well, it’s just a few kids.

In the corridor, near Lijian’s kennel, there were some of its toys. Shi Tingyu had made a wooden frisbee, a towel, and a small ball for Lijian, based on some toys for dogs from the future.

Lijian fetched the small ball from its kennel and placed it in front of the children.

The two boys looked at each other, wondering what Lijian wanted to do.

Damao, who had seen Lijian play with Shi Tingyu, picked up the ball and threw it, mimicking Shi Tingyu. Lijian’s eyes locked onto the flying ball, and it ran, leaping to catch it mid-air.

Damao smiled proudly, “See, that’s how Auntie usually plays with Lijian.”

The other two boys were eager to try.

The taller boy, Sun Xiangdong, asked Damao for the ball, imitated him, and threw it while shouting to Lijian, “Zhuifeng! Go get it!”

Lijian abruptly halted, a big question mark appearing over its head.

Who’s Zhuifeng?

Damao, hands on his hips, angrily shouted, “You got Lijian’s name wrong! Now it’s mad!”

Sun Xiangdong, feeling embarrassed, scratched his head and apologized to Lijian, “I’m sorry, Lijian. I didn’t mean to.”

Lijian glanced at him, grabbed the ball, but refused to play with him.

Sun Xiangdong chased after Lijian, explaining, “Lijian, listen, I didn’t mean it. Zhuifeng is a brave and strong military dog from a comic I read. It also has a bad leg like you, and I think you’re just as great.”

Lijian perked up its ears, its haughty expression softening a bit.

Sun Xiangdong’s words caught everyone’s attention.

Damao, intrigued, asked, “What comic? Is it good? Does it have military dogs like Lijian?”

The children’s questions kept coming, so Sun Xiangdong decided, “Wait here, I’ll go home and get my comic for you to see.”

Since the families lived close by and Sun Xiangdong’s house was nearby, no one stopped him.

When Shi Tingyu came out again, she noticed one child was missing and asked, “Where’s your other little friend?”

Damao raised his hand and said, “Auntie, Sun Xiangdong went home to get something. He’ll be back soon.”

Shi Tingyu nodded, satisfied knowing the child’s whereabouts. All the kids were within the compound, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

In those days, parents let their kids roam freely as long as they came home to eat. Sometimes, when kids forgot the time, they could hear their mothers calling them loudly.

Not long after, Sun Xiangdong came back with the comic book “Loyal Dog.” He had run all the way, his face flushed from the exercise.

He placed the comic book in front of Damao and the others, saying, “Look, this is Zhuifeng on the cover. Doesn’t it look just like Lijian?”

Damao examined it closely, marveling, “It really does look similar, even the injured leg. Look here.”

Damao pointed at the crippled leg of Zhuifeng on the cover, “Look here, it’s just like Lijian’s.”

Lijian’s head squeezed between Damao and Sun Xiangdong, its eyes lighting up when it saw the dog on the cover, and it started barking.

Damao patted its head, “Do you think it looks like you?”

Lijian: “Woof woof.”

That was it! It had seen this book in its owner’s room before.

With the comic book, the kids’ attention was completely captured. The three boys and the dog gathered around it, with Sun Xiangdong turning the pages and reading the words aloud for Damao, who couldn’t read.

Soon, they were engrossed in the story, increasingly convinced that Zhuifeng resembled Lijian.

Shi Tingyu came out and saw them huddled together, curious, she approached and noticed they were reading “Loyal Dog.”

Damao, hearing her, looked up and asked, “Auntie, did you draw this book?”

The whole compound had been talking about how Shi Tingyu made a lot of money from publishing a book. Damao had heard about it and paid attention because it was about her. Now, seeing how similar Zhuifeng was to Lijian, he thought this comic must be the one she had drawn.

Shi Tingyu hadn’t expected Damao to make the connection. Since her book was no secret in the compound, she didn’t hide it, “Yes, I drew it.”

As soon as she spoke, Sun Xiangdong and Shen Jibing looked at her, their expressions changing from surprise to admiration.

The children’s enthusiasm for comic books was immense, and for someone who could create them, they had a sense of reverence. Having the creator right next to them was exhilarating.

Sun Xiangdong stammered, “Ms., Teacher Shi, is this, is this true?”

Shi Tingyu took the comic and opened the title page, pointing to the author. There, in clear print, was her name.

Both third-graders, Sun Xiangdong and Shen Jibing, could recognize the name. They had never paid attention to the author’s name before, being entirely absorbed in the comic’s content. Seeing her name now, they realized that their art teacher had created it.

They felt like they had a celebrity in their midst.

Although they didn’t know the term “celebrity,” they were very excited.

“Teacher Shi, you’re amazing! I really love Zhuifeng. I think it’s a super dog.”

Shi Tingyu smiled, “Thank you for your love of the comic. Although it’s great to read comic books your family buys for you, don’t let it interfere with your studies.”

Sun Xiangdong nodded earnestly. If his parents had said this, he might have argued, but coming from his teacher and the comic’s author, he had to listen.

Lijian stood proudly beside them. It understood the conversation, realizing that the dog in the book was indeed it.

Even though the name was different, it didn’t matter.

At that moment, it felt immensely proud.           

It thought about when it could perform another great deed, so its owner could write another book about it.

Soon, the children’s parents started calling them home. Hearing their parents’ voices, the two boys left. On their way home, they kept discussing Zhuifeng and Lijian.