Saving the Boss From a ‘Dog Blood’ Novel - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Prelude to the Moonlight Fading

Lu Mingtang did not consider himself a stubborn man, it was simply that others could not understand his persistence.

The transaction for the old shop was scheduled for the next day, and he did not want to break his word.

His shop was far from the city center, small in area, with no infrastructure, no foot traffic, and a dilapidated interior. A complete renovation would surely disturb the entire street and invite untold amounts of trouble.

The buyer’s offer of one million yuan wasn’t a business deal, it was entirely out of personal sentiment.

As Lu Mingtang dragged his sick body home, the other party had surprisingly already arrived.

The man was pot-bellied and was currently stepping out of the shop, carrying several gift boxes. Seeing Lu Mingtang and the puppy on his shoulder, deep smile lines crinkled on his smooth, chubby face. An incongruous look of diligence and respect appeared on that weathered face, tinged with a faint trace of worry. He said: “Brother Lu, I heard you were sick. I was just about to go to the clinic to see you. Here are some fruits, come, come.”

He carried no baggage regarding his age. Of the two people and one dog present, only Ye Li felt shocked, but Lu Mingtang seemed very accustomed to this treatment.

“Why bring fruits? You’re here to buy the shop, not to visit a patient.”

As the host, Lu Mingtang realized there was nothing in the house to entertain guests. He could only pour a few cups of cold water—one of which belonged to the “Hero Dog” standing guard diligently on his shoulder. Fortunately, they weren’t strangers. They sat down harmoniously as the other man placed the fruit gifts on the coffee table, acting more like the host than the owner himself.

Lu Mingtang placed the property deed he had prepared earlier on the table.

“A-Wu, as you can see, the conditions are what they are. This is yours from now on. Change whatever you want, use it for whatever you want. You’ve settled on the price; do you want to talk about it one more time?”

“…Is one million enough?”

“Any more and the Bureau of Market Supervision would come knocking. I know what you mean, and I’ve taken it to heart.”

“Don’t say such things! If it weren’t for you helping me back then, I’d still be selling pork on the street,” A-Wu smiled, his speech quickening.

“Others might not know, but don’t I? There’s no such thing as smooth sailing in business, this is just a small hurdle, you’ll clear it with one step.

I’ll put my words right here: I’m just looking after this shop for you. When you recover, take it back. If one million isn’t enough, I have more here. Take it for emergencies. Don’t worry about my family; Zhenzhen and I have discussed it, and we definitely back you.”

A-Wu had opened a food processing plant years ago. Business was good, and he had some family wealth. He hadn’t forgotten his roots after getting rich; he often lent a hand to fellow villagers. In this place, he was a small boss second only to Lu Mingtang.

His factory wasn’t large; one million was the limit of what he could take out. For Lu Mingtang’s troubles, it was a mere drop in the bucket—taking this money would barely cover the employees’ wages.

“If you think like that, then I’ll have to reconsider this. My line of work is high-risk, whether I can ever buy this shop back is still unknown.” As he spoke, Lu Mingtang pressed his hand on the deed.

Lu Mingtang’s words confused Ye Li. The trouble was “big,” but was it still…that big?

The field of Biological Coordination was led by the state; private companies could only undertake some scattered modules. With Mingde’s capabilities, they should be able to live off their patents comfortably by now.

When he left, Mingde was already in a position to coast on its laurels. Could it be that a new investment project had gone wrong?

But as far as he knew, there were no more than five companies in the entire market doing Biological Coordination. Moreover—not to toot his own horn—his joining had solidified Mingde’s position as the industry leader. Even after his departure, the enterprise should have soared on the favorable winds of government policy.

So how did Lu Mingtang end up in this state?

Did he take the money to speculate on land, housing, or stocks? But using the company’s money? He didn’t look like he’d gone mad.

“Brother Lu, I didn’t mean it that way. Sigh, I’m clumsy with words. I mean…you have great ability. Don’t lose heart. You’ve made it through harder times before; at worst, just start from scratch!”

“This time is different,” Lu Mingtang didn’t wish to elaborate. “I’m not being polite with you, but I have to make the situation clear. Regardless, thanks for this time.”

A-Wu whispered: “Brother Lu, did you offend…”

“Unclear.”

Lu Mingtang obviously knew he had offended someone, but exactly who he had offended remained a mystery.

Ye Li had a sudden realization as well—he knew it; it could only be that Lu Mingtang had offended someone.

But who?

He fell into deep thought along with them.

Every industry is full of social nuances and human relations, but these “nuances” are usually obscure. Those who leak word are vague, yet the results are crystal clear—it certainly couldn’t be blamed on a simple bout of “Mercury in Retrograde.”

That person must have a significant background and a massive grudge against Lu Mingtang; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sabotaged an emerging company with such solid strength and vast prospects just for a personal vendetta.

It was likely some greasy, pot-bellied, small-minded high-ranking official. Once Ye Li got back, he would definitely have someone dig up the guy’s secrets and make sure he rotted in jail.

After a moment of internal cursing, this body felt sleepy again. A pampered puppy doesn’t sleep on the floor, Ye Li crawled onto Lu Mingtang’s lap, found a comfortable spot for himself, and lay down. The voices above his head paused for a second, then continued.

Perfect. His actions perfectly matched the behavioral logic of a puppy; it wouldn’t cause the “two-legged beasts” any alarm.

“Is this…that puppy?”

A-Wu actually knew about it too, the heroic tale of a puppy crossing a thousand obstacles to save its master.

Lu Mingtang’s lip twitched. As the person involved, he had no memory of the previous night, so he couldn’t offer any corrections. He could only nod.

A-Wu looked at the dog with envy and whispered: “How long have you had him? He’s so affectionate.”

Only a few hours…

Once they finished their discussion and settled the handover, the matters he needed to handle in his hometown were basically finalized. He still had a lot to do; the next project would decide the life or death of the entire company, and he couldn’t let it be ruined again.

Just as he was about to leave, a group of people rushed into the old shop in a frenzy:

“They’re fighting! They’re fighting!”

“Brother Lu, this is bad! Grandma Long has a meat cleaver!”

“Grandma Long has gone crazy! She’s trying to hack A-Dong!”

“It’s a brutal fight!”

“She’s losing it! Should we call the police?!”

The firecracker-like voices of the newcomers nearly made Ye Li’s soul leave the puppy’s body.

He thought this village was another virtuous place, turned out he was wrong. They were actually going to have an armed brawl?

Someone pulled a knife and they still hadn’t called the police?

Was there some mistake? This was a tailor shop!

The neighborhood committee or the police station didn’t look like this!

The crowd clearly forgot that a few hours ago Lu Mingtang was lying in bed in a withered state, they all looked to him to take charge. He did as they wished, asking:

“Why was A-Dong looking for Grandma Long?”

“No, no! Grandma Long looked for A-Dong first!”

“Isn’t A-Dong helping out at the village committee? Grandma Long went to ask about this month’s money, and somehow they started arguing.”

“Grandma Long is so old, no one expected her to dare pick up a knife!”

A swarm of people walked ahead. Ye Li chased after them at the risk of being trampled. He didn’t know why he was running; no one expected a young pup to join the commotion, but since turning into a dog, he had been jumping around constantly—it had become muscle memory.

The village committee wasn’t far from Lu Mingtang’s house. Relying on his hearing, which far surpassed that of a human, Ye Li could hear a sharp female voice from a distance:

“This is all there is! Your family isn’t a low-income household; this is how the pension is distributed!”

“How is that possible? You’ve tampered with it! Did you embezzle the money? It was never this amount before; it only decreased in these last two months!”

The other voice was older but high-pitched enough to try and drown out the young woman opposite her.

“The extra money before was given to you by Brother Lu! Didn’t you say you wouldn’t take a single cent from anyone named Lu? I’ve put it aside for you.”

“Bullsh*t! That was obviously Little Yu showing his filial piety to me! What does it have to do with someone named Lu!”

“Exactly! Whether you live or die, what does it have to do with Brother Lu? Go ask that Wu person for it!”

“You little harlot!! Have you entered the Lu family door or married a Lu? ‘Brother Lu, Brother Lu’, he’s not even your real brother!”

Then came the whistling sound of a meat cleaver through the air, followed by the cursing, advising, and screaming of neighbors…

This was the first time Ye Li had seen rural people arguing—it was an absolute chaotic, smoky mess. Even a human could get hacked to death in this scene, let alone a dog. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should continue toward it.

“Enough! Put the knife down, or everyone can explain themselves at the police station in a moment!”

The crowd quieted but didn’t disperse. The old woman holding the knife craned her neck and glared at Lu Mingtang.

The one confronting her was A-Dong. Strangely, she also looked a bit guilty. She stammered “Brother Lu” for a moment, then went silent.

Lu Mingtang’s head began to ache again.

The village’s understanding of his current situation was essentially that he was bankrupt.

Those who could still call him “Brother Lu” were honest people, but they were all somewhat shrinking back, afraid he would ask them to pay back money.

Of course, there were idiots like Ah Feng who thought their meager savings could be of some help to him. There weren’t many such fools in the village, but there was also A-Dong.

When his parents were alive, they had taken her in as a god-daughter. Technically, she was his god-sister. She was meticulous and upright, and she managed the pension fund for the village elders.

This fund was purely private. The largest source of capital was Lu Mingtang himself; other families who had the means contributed a little to ease the village’s elderly-care pressure.

But the portion for Grandma Long was something he had specifically entrusted A-Dong to look after.

In truth, it was a debt from the previous generation. He had accepted it, but A-Dong wasn’t very willing to.

In the past, when his prospects were good, everything could be covered up. Now, the young girl had likely heard some sarcastic remarks and was in a state of extreme stress-response.

Although she felt guilty, she didn’t think she was wrong and stood perfectly straight.

Lu Mingtang felt weary. He could only scold Grandma Long: “You’re at such an age; what if you didn’t hold the knife steady and actually hurt someone? Do you want Wu Yu to go to prison to visit you in the future?”

Ye Li’s ears twitched—Who? Wu Yu?

Grandma Long was still indignant:

“You tell her to apologize to me! She has no respect for her elders at all—no sense of seniority, and she lied to me!”

“What did I lie to you about!” A-Dong shouted.

Grandma Long yelled angrily:

“She embezzled the money Little Yu gave me!”

A-Dong spoke with sarcasm:

“You really expect that dog-thing to give you a single cent? Use your almost-demented brain and think—if he were going to support you, would he have gone all these years without coming back even once?”

Grandma Long, having had her sore spot stepped on, shouted sharply:

“He’s busy with work! Many TV stations want to collaborate with him! He has no time, but he’s still filial; he knows to send money home every year!”

Then the topic veered toward how successful and filial her precious grandson was. However, for every sentence she spoke, A-Dong countered with a jab, making no effort to hide her schadenfreude.

Thus, as the scene once again became uncontrollable, Ye Li quietly widened his eyes—

TV station collaborations, the entertainment industry, Wu Yu…the elements were all there. What a coincidence—he also had a young boyfriend named Wu Yu.

But hadn’t his boyfriend said his family was all gone? He never mentioned he still had a grandmother.