Chapter 25

Jiang Tiantian was speechless. Well, it really was being raised like a son—impressive.

Speaking softly, she coaxed the mop-like dog, “Mop, let’s go play outside, okay?”

The pressure on Mop’s head was lifted, and it instantly sprang back to life. It stood up and began circling around Jiang Tiantian, panting excitedly.

Jiang Tiantian tried running toward the front door. Mop immediately barked twice—”Woof woof!”—and followed her closely.

Cha Jiuzhang watched, speechless, as Mop eagerly trailed behind Jiang Tiantian, disappearing through the doorway.

Cha Chengye, on the other hand, looked completely content, like a grandfather watching over his grandchild. “Tiantian and Mop really get along well, huh? They’re already playing together.”

Cha Jizu sipped his tea leisurely. “Mop is intelligent. It knows who’s good and who’s not.”

Then he turned to Cha Jiuzhang and asked, “Where did you find it this time?”

It had been missing for two or three days again. The dog was getting wilder by the day.

Cha Jiuzhang wiped his face with his hand, exasperated. “I dragged it out from Second Uncle’s doghouse.”

When he arrived, Mop had been lying on top of Second Uncle’s little female dog, Xiaohua.

“Iron Egg complained to me, saying Mop had been freeloading at his house for two whole days and wouldn’t leave no matter how hard they tried to chase it away.”

Zuo Mingyan chuckled and chimed in, “Mop got a new wife again?”

No one knew who Mop took after. It had been such a well-behaved puppy, but somehow, as it grew up, it turned completely crooked.

Their family’s Mop was now infamous in the entire village as the ultimate playboy dog.

Its image was completely shattered…

Hearing this, Cha Jiuzhang’s face darkened. He had the sudden urge to rush outside and give Mop another beating.

He’d lost count of how many “wives” Mop had taken by now.

Not far from the Cha family courtyard…

Jiang Tiantian found a secluded spot with no one around. Crouching in front of Mop like a big bad wolf tricking Little Red Riding Hood, she whispered,

“Mop, big sister has something really good for you. Do you want to try it?”

She opened her palm carefully and brought it near Mop’s mouth.

Mop sniffed her hand intensely. It smelled pretty good. Without hesitation, it stuck out its tongue and rolled the capsule into its mouth.

A moment later, Mop’s entire body trembled violently, and all its fur suddenly puffed up as if it had been electrocuted.

Jiang Tiantian watched in horror as the dog turned into a giant white furball. Panicked, she glanced around to make sure no one was watching.

“This is bad! Xiao Qi, why didn’t you tell me it would have this kind of effect?”

“This is normal. The potion is currently improving its body.”

“How long will this take? I can’t just bring a giant furball back home!”

The visual effect was way too shocking.

“I don’t know. Each animal is different, so there’s no standard time.”

Jiang Tiantian anxiously peeked through the fur and locked eyes with Mop, whose normally round eyes were now hazy and unfocused.

She got up and paced around Mop, muttering, “Mop, you better be okay…”

If anything happened to it, where would she find another “dog son” for Cha Jiuzhang?

She remained on high alert, worried that someone might suddenly appear and get scared to death by this bizarre sight.

Ten minutes later…

Jiang Tiantian finally saw Mop’s fur start to settle back down. Its eyes also became clearer.

Mop felt like it had just gone through a strange and wonderful adventure.

Upon waking up, it noticed that its mind felt sharper, its sense of smell was keener, and its understanding of the world had deepened.

Looking at the girl in front of it, Mop sensed a special, pleasant scent on her, making it want to get closer.

So, it walked forward, stuck out its tongue, and began licking her little hand repeatedly.

Jiang Tiantian finally relaxed. Everything had gone smoothly.

She let Mop lick her palm while using her other hand to ruffle its head. The fur was soft and fluffy, and the dog itself was round and plump—quite nice to touch.

When Mop finally let go of her hand and started nudging her with its head, acting spoiled, she took it for another stroll around the area.

She randomly picked some flowers. After walking a bit farther, she showed them to Mop, let it sniff, and then asked it to fetch a matching flower.

They tried this several times, and Mop successfully completed the task each time. Whenever she praised it, Mop was overjoyed.

She wondered—would it be able to find matsutake mushrooms tomorrow?

Well, they’d just have to climb the mountain and try.

More than half an hour later…

One human and one dog ran back home, playfully chasing each other.

Jiang Tiantian picked up her teacup and downed the entire drink in one go.

Noticing Mop staring at her cup, she went to the kitchen, found another bowl, and poured some tea into it before placing it on the ground.

Mop wagged its tail excitedly and happily lapped up the tea.

Cha Jiuzhang watched their interaction with a complicated expression. They’d only spent half an hour together, and these two were already this close?

Mop’s charm with females seemed to be increasing…

Jiang Tiantian squatted on the ground, watching Mop drink tea. She patted its head and excitedly announced to the Cha family,

“Mop is so cute! I’m taking it up the mountain tomorrow to hunt for matsutake mushrooms!”

“Is that okay?”

She blinked her big eyes and looked at everyone expectantly.

“Uh…” Cha Chengye couldn’t bear to see her disappointed. “Of course! As long as Mop wants to go, it’s fine.”

“Jiuzhang, don’t you agree?”

Cha Jiuzhang saw how quickly his uncle agreed—what else could he say?

He could only nod.

“You still want to go mushroom hunting tomorrow?”

He thought she would have had enough after today. Climbing mountains every day was exhausting work.

“Yeah, I’ll go one more time with Mop tomorrow, and then I’ll stop.”

Cha Jiuzhang didn’t understand what taking Mop had to do with picking mushrooms, but he just said indifferently, “If Mop wants to go with you, take it.”

This dumb dog wasn’t exactly the most obedient.

“Yay! Mop, we’re climbing the mountain tomorrow! I’ll teach you to find matsutake mushrooms and turn you into a master mushroom hunter. Sound good?”

In just half an hour, one human and one dog had developed a deep revolutionary friendship.

Mop seemed to understand her words, excitedly nodded, then shot Cha Jiuzhang a side-eye before continuing to slurp up tea.

Cha Jiuzhang noticed that after playing with Jiang Tiantian, Mop’s fur looked even fluffier—almost like it had just been permed.

And its overall vibe seemed different too… It felt… more shameless? Almost like it had become a refined scoundrel of a dog.

What exactly had these two been up to? How did they end up like this?

Before bed…

After washing up, Jiang Tiantian reluctantly ordered a new set of underwear online.

With two sets, at least she could rotate them.

Then, she finally had time to instruct Xiao Qi to edit and upload the videos they had recorded today:

One showcasing different ways to find matsutake mushrooms.

One introducing various mushrooms.

One explaining different wild fruits in the forest.

And the last one demonstrating how to cook a matsutake feast at night.

After reviewing them all, she let Xiao Qi upload them.