Ning Shu quickly said, “Da Mao, I’m going to trim the knots on your fur. It won’t hurt you, so don’t worry.” She tried to speak in a gentle tone.

But Da Mao just glanced and then looked away.

It smelled Lin Guodong’s scent on Ning Shu, which was very strong, even stronger than the scent on the three little kids.

Lin Guodong was someone it could trust, so Da Mao didn’t feel any danger from Ning Shu.

It just observed things it perceived as dangerous.

Ning Shu first used a comb to brush Da Mao’s fur.

As soon as she ran the comb through, she immediately found the knots.

Then, she used scissors to cut off the knotted fur.

Although Da Mao was not a large dog, perhaps due to not being groomed for a long time, there were many tangled knots in its fur.

The cut fur could be made into a small ball.

After trimming for a while, Ning Shu heard a snoring sound.

Before she could speak, San Bao said, “Snore… Fur snore…”

Er Bao also exclaimed, “Mom, Da Mao snores just like Dad.”

Yi Bao asked, “Mom, is Da Mao asleep?”

Ning Shu replied, “Go and check.”

“Okay.” Yi Bao walked to Da Mao and tried to see if it was asleep.

When he made eye contact with Da Mao, Yi Bao quickly said, “Mom, Da Mao isn’t asleep. Its eyes are open.”

Ning Shu, with her limited knowledge, explained, “Da Mao is snoring, but not asleep, which means it’s very comfortable right now. It enjoys us grooming its fur. But remember, don’t brush too hard, it will hurt them.”

Yi Bao responded, “Mo., I’ll remember.”

Er Bao silently made a mental note too.

San Bao shook his head, his big eyes watching Ning Shu’s actions as if he wanted to learn everything and try it himself.

Seeing his serious expression, Ning Shu patiently instructed him, “San Bao, when you groom Da Mao, you must be gentle, okay? And when you see knots like this, call Mom, understand?” She emphasized again.

San Bao nodded and gave his mother a sweet smile, “Gentle, knots, call Mom.”

“Yes, yes, San Bao, you’re amazing.” While Ning Shu was dealing with Da Mao’s knots, Er Bao didn’t groom Tie Dan.

The three children surrounded their mother and Da Mao.

Tie lay on the side, its eyes fixed on them.

After a while, it squinted its eyes and started snoring too.

Since Da Mao wasn’t a large dog and was very cooperative, the knots were quickly trimmed.

After finishing, Ning Shu stood up.

Though the trimming didn’t take long, squatting was still tiring.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, I’ll go heat some water. You two bathe Da Mao, and I’ll continue trimming Tie Dan’s knots later.”

“Okay.” Both children responded eagerly, clearly happy.

Tie Dan heard its name and thought it was time for its knots to be trimmed.

It came to Ning Shu and then lay down, very cooperative.

Ning Shu didn’t understand Tie Dan’s intention and thought it wanted to lie down with Da Mao.

She commented, “Tie Dan and Da Mao are really affectionate.”

“Mama, what does ‘affectionate’ mean?” Er Bao asked.

Ning Shu explained, “Tie Dan and Da Mao are a married couple, like a husband and wife. Do you understand what that means?”

Yi Bao said, “I know. It’s like you and Dad.”

“Yes, but some couples argue, while others don’t. The ones who don’t argue are considered affectionate.” This was the limit of Ning Shu’s explanation.

Any further detail, and she wouldn’t know how to explain.

“I understand. Dad and Mom don’t argue, so they’re affectionate. I’ve seen parents in the village who argue, so they’re not affectionate.” Er Bao understood.

“Alright, I’ll go heat the water. You two bring Da Mao out.” Ning Shu didn’t want to continue discussing affection with the children, especially not with Er Bao, the gossip prince.

However… as Ning Shu left, Tie Dan looked as if it was holding up a dog’s face on its own.

Tie Dan looked at them, its eyes wide. Its fur knots hadn’t been dealt with yet.

Yi Bao saw Ning Shu leave and quickly said to Da Mao, “Da Mao, let’s get up and go take a bath.”

Er Bao also waved to Da Mao, “Da Mao, get up, it’s time for a bath.”

Da Mao got up from the ground.

“Ma… Da Mao…” San Bao went over and affectionately hugged Da Mao’s body.

Da Mao let him hug, slowly walking outside.

Tie Dan watched them, its eyes wide. It reluctantly followed, then stuck to Da Mao’s side, barking a few times.

Da Mao turned its head and barked back at it.

Tie Dan jumped back and barked again.

Da Mao ignored it.

San Bao looked at Da Mao, then at Tie Dan, and said to Da Mao, “Da Mao, Tie Dan is not behaving. Da Mao… be good.”

Da Mao rubbed its head against San Bao’s chest.

Ning Shu came out with the hot water and placed it in the yard. “Yi Bao, Er Bao, come and bathe Da Mao. Use the comb to brush its fur while bathing.”

Unfortunately, there was no dog shampoo, and she wasn’t sure if plain water would clean well.

“We know.” The two brothers carefully tested the water temperature with their hands before starting to bathe Da Mao.

Da Mao and Tie Dan had been trained to swim, so they were not afraid of water.

They even knew that Yi Bao and Er Bao were going to bathe them, so they cooperated very well.

However, in terms of swimming, Da Mao was different from Tie Dan.

Da Mao was a Kunming dog and was naturally good at swimming, so even the first time it swam during training, it quickly got used to it.

On the other hand, Tie Dan was not naturally good at swimming.

Although it had the talent for swimming like other dogs, it had to undergo training many times before it learned how to swim.

At this moment, when Tie Dan saw Yi Bao and Er Bao pouring water over Da Mao and not over it, it barked at them twice.

Tie Dan: [Why aren’t you bathing me?] if he can speak.

Yi Bao and Er Bao naturally didn’t understand what it was saying.

Yi Bao smiled and said to Tie Dan, “Tie Dan, Mom still needs to trim your knots. Don’t come over here, or you’ll get wet.”

Tie Dan: [Woof… Bathe me too, one person, one dog.]

Yi Bao said, “Tie Dan, be obedient.”

Ning Shu came out with scissors and a comb.

Seeing Yi Bao talking and Tie Dan barking, it was like they were speaking different languages.

Of course, she didn’t understand either. “Tie Dan, come here to have your knots trimmed,” she said, waving to Tie Dan.

Waving meant come over, but Tie. Dan, envious of Da Mao bathing, looked back three times before finally going to Ning Shu.

It had not had a bath in a long time and was quite eager to have one.

Ning Shu reassured Tie Dan, “Don’t worry, I just trimmed Da Mao’s knots, and now I’ll trim yours. After that, we’ll bathe you.” As she spoke, she combed Tie Dan’s fur.

When she reached a knotted area, she began to trim.

Tie Dan went from looking despondent to lying on the ground with half-closed eyes.

But if you looked closely, its eyes were not completely closed; they were half-open, looking at where Da Mao was bathing.

It was the first time for the two children to bathe a dog, and they were both excited and thrilled.

Even without soap, they washed out a lot of dirty water from Da Mao’s body.

Er Bao muttered while washing, “Da Mao, look at this, the water is all dirty? How long has it been since you bathed?” Da Mao looked at Er Bao innocently.

Da Mao hadn’t bathed for a year because it had retired and no longer needed training.

Before, during training, including swimming training, soldiers would bathe it.

San Bao giggled, “Da Mao is dirty, not bathing, not obedient.” As he spoke, he scooped up some water with his hand and poured it over Da Mao’s head.

Da Mao’s head got wet, and the water droplets slid down its head.

San Bao didn’t stop and continued to play with Da Mao’s head, muttering, “Da Mao, washing hair, I’ll wash your hair.”

Ning Shu felt sorry for Da Mao.

Fortunately, Tie Dan was smaller, and its knots were dealt with quickly.

After sorting out Tie Dan’s knots, she hurried over to rescue Da Mao. “Alright, I’ll do the washing. You guys go play with Tie Dan. If we continue like this, Da Mao will catch a cold and get sick.”

Originally, Yi Bao and Er Bao wanted to continue bathing, but when they heard Mom say that Da Mao could catch a cold and get sick, they immediately stopped and went to play with Tie Dan.

The two older children left, but the youngest, San Bao, was persistent and still wanted to bathe Da Mao.

Ning Shu ignored him.

Da Mao’s body was already wet from Yi Bao and Er Bao, so she gently rubbed Da Mao’s whole body with her hands, then combed its fur.

Although she knew that plain water wouldn’t clean well, it was better than not washing at all.

After bathing Da Mao, she went back to the room and took out her pure cotton T-shirt, which she intended to wear when it got warmer.

Since there were no towels for Da Mao and Tie Dan, she had to use her T-shirt to dry them after bathing.

Cotton absorbs water quickly, so she decided to use it as Da Mao and Tie Dan exclusive drying cloth in the future.

Ning Shu used scissors to cut the T-shirt open, laying it out to wrap around Da Mao’s body.

She used the cotton cloth to absorb the water from Da Mao’s body, wringing it out and continuing to absorb until dry.

After repeated efforts, it was finally almost done.

When Ning Shu finished drying Da Mao, it shook its body to get rid of the remaining water droplets.

With each shake, more water droplets flew off its body.

Ning Shu encouraged, “Da Mao, shake a few more times, it’ll dry faster.”

Da Mao stopped shaking when it heard Ning Shu’s call and looked at her.

Ning Shu, unable to communicate verbally, gave Da Mao a thumbs-up.

Da Mao understood this gesture from its training days; trainers would do this when it behaved well, so it knew it was being praised.

It shook even harder.

However, since Ning Shu had already dried most of the water, no matter how much Da Mao shook, it couldn’t shake off more water droplets.

After a while, Da Mao stopped shaking, walked to the side, and lay down, watching Ning Shu bathe Tie Dan.

Ning Shu felt a pang of heartache watching Da Mao lie down after just being bathed, but what could she do?

When Ning Shu finished bathing Tie Dan and drying it, the kitchen started to smell fragrant.

She had stewed pig’s trotters earlier when she was preparing the hot water.

Suddenly, Da Mao and Tie Dan, who had been lying down, stood up and ran into the dining room. In no time, they came out carrying their enamel bowls and sat obediently at the kitchen door, placing their bowls in front of them.

Was it time for dinner already?!