Saving the Boss From a ‘Dog Blood’ Novel - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Absolutely Impossible!

The year the company got on the right track, Lu Mingtang purchased this luxury flat in the city center. Today, its market value exceeds thirty million, a quite decent investment.

Of course, he was highly devoted to his own profession and had no intention of profiting from real estate; this was his home, and he had put twelve-tenths of his heart into it.

Though they had many disagreements in the past, Ye Li still greatly admired Lu Mingtang’s aesthetic. In daily life, Lu was an artist. Everything in his home was orderly, elegant yet full of the warmth of life, a far cry from his dictatorial image at work. If Ye Li hadn’t visited his home, he would never have discovered that Lu Mingtang was actually someone who knew how to live well.

But now, there was a bit of a problem with his home.

Ye Li looked in shock at the equipment stuffing three rooms. Every giant hunk of iron dragged thick, long cables behind it; the wires interlaced and spiraled, turning the place into a sinister cobweb’s nest where sated giant spiders lay dormant. Several rows of cold, compound “eyes” flickered in an alternating pattern, giving anyone who saw them goosebumps.

Ye Li didn’t have trypophobia, but he was about to develop it.

Noticing the puppy’s hesitation, Lu Mingtang took the lead, picking him up to step over the wires and placing him in the kitchen, instructing:

“Tomorrow I’ll find someone to pick you up. If your owner can’t be found, I’ll help find you a good adoption. As you can see, I have no room to raise a dog here.”

He stroked the puppy’s head to comfort him, but the puppy suddenly hugged his leg, whimpering aggrievedly.

President Lu’s words were reasonable, no one raises a dog in a server room! But the point was, he, Ye Li, wasn’t a dog.

Lu Mingtang shook his leg, to no avail. After a moment of conflicted hesitation, he compromised:

“Then you have to be good. Don’t bite, don’t dig, and don’t step on things. If you wreck the house, I’ll send you away immediately, understood?”

The puppy nodded frantically—he must have succumbed to his canine nature, or perhaps the dog DNA had occupied the precious high ground of his IQ. The animal’s nervous system was operating on its own, disregarding the owner’s will. Either way, by the time he realized what was happening, he was already stepping on Lu Mingtang’s lapel and frantically licking his chin.

At first glance, it looked like Lu Mingtang had taken a step back in the face of the puppy’s enthusiasm, leaving both sides happy.

In reality, once Ye Li regained his human reason, he became the only injured party on the field.

He was overwhelmed with shame. Stiffening in Lu Mingtang’s arms, he began to pray that after becoming human again, he would lose this memory.

But regardless, he had settled into Lu Mingtang’s “Web-Spun Cave.”

Actually, even a dog could see that Lu Mingtang was previously putting on a brave front. All that talk about how everything would recover once he landed the next project, if he were truly ninety percent sure, he wouldn’t have had to turn his home into this state.

What he saw now was far more impactful than that sold-off tailor shop.

Lu had quit sleeping. He stayed up night after night monitoring the debugging of the constructed data models, stuffing the ashtray full of cigarette butts. For three consecutive days, he survived only on cigarettes, coffee, and toast that might or might not have expired.

This was irrational.

As far as Ye Li was concerned, no one nowadays relied on the naked eye to inspect code, especially for such a complex data model.

He needed a mature team of over thirty people, or a high-performance intelligent assistant. Even with those ready, it would still take several all-nighters to complete all the inspection tasks. But now, it was just him alone?

Who was the last person to emphasize teamwork to him and tell him not to be a “lone hero”?

It was Lu Mingtang himself.

What kind of stupor was he in now?

Admittedly, he understood the importance of hard work, but blindly heading down a dead-end path was never advisable. There were no “life-or-death” turning points in this world; the heavens and earth were vast, ever-changing, and full of infinite possibilities. If you fall in one place, you stand up in another, why was he death-gripping this one spot?

Ye Li really wanted to say these things to Lu Mingtang, from his professional perspective, they already had this project in the bag. Even if there was a bit of instability, it was no big deal. The market was huge, and money was never-ending, there would always be a discerning scout to discover true gold.

So what was there to worry about?

Throw away your coffee and go get some sleep.

Otherwise, what is a puppy supposed to do?

Help call the emergency services when you drop dead? How do you say “He’s not going to make it” in dog language?

How many times should he bark to make the person on the other end understand the address?

And with you installing this fingerprint lock, how is a puppy supposed to go next door for help?

Ye Li finally began to feel anxious, becoming a puppy meant too many “cannots” and too many “unable-to’s.” He absolutely did not want to stay in this house guarding his former boss’s corpse until someone discovered it.

As for being given to someone else and hearing the news of Lu’s death from a stranger’s mouth, that was even further from his expectations.

He frequently gazed at the door, hoping that among the technical teams he used to pay top dollar for, a few would have a conscience and come visit their former employer, so as to spare a puppy from the many potential moments of powerlessness.

In short, he no longer believed the nonsense about puppies being carefree; he was worried sick.

Lu Mingtang discovered that the puppy he picked up was indeed a bit unusual.

Dogs are man’s best friend, so dogs are enthusiastic, clingy, and full of energy; an owner must set aside time every day to take them for a walk. He knew these common facts.

And because he knew them, he initially felt he wouldn’t be a qualified owner. He had nothing, especially time.

But who would have thought this pup’s clinginess outweighed its need for walks? In the many days since coming home, he hadn’t seen it express a strong desire to go out—because it even knew how to use the toilet and required privacy while doing so.

Regarding such a uniquely gifted puppy, even though Lu Mingtang was busy day and night, he couldn’t help but spare some energy to observe it.

Seemingly unaccustomed to its own four limbs, its movement in jumping onto the table was a bit clumsy, though it landed with agility. Lu Mingtang didn’t drive it away; the puppy meant no harm—it only got on the table to attack his coffee cup.

He probably was indeed a bit tired, otherwise, why could he read “disdain” in a dog’s eyes? The disdainful puppy pushed his coffee cup away with its head to a perfect position—not far enough to fall to the floor, but not quite within easy reach either.

It wouldn’t let him drink coffee.

Once Lu Mingtang understood, the puppy jumped down, pitter-pattered away, and pitter-pattered back, carrying a paper cup in its mouth with half a cup of water inside.

It was telling him to drink water.

Lu Mingtang thought expressionlessly.

He didn’t think too deeply about it, because thinking about how a dog completed the complex sequence of finding a cup, carrying it to the water purifier, turning it on, filling it, and turning it off… was simply impossible to think about.

But he stiffly opened a search engine and searched: “Can dogs use water dispensers?” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the previously smug puppy suddenly freeze. The head holding the cup jerked up, and the water splashed all over its own face.

Lu Mingtang sighed, closed the page, found a towel, and pulled the apprehensive puppy into his arms:

“Be careful.”

What bad intentions could a puppy have? It just wanted its owner to stay away from the source of all evil that causes gastric perforations, tachycardia, nervous spasms, and many other diseases.

Once Lu Mingtang indulged it once, there would be a second, third, and fourth time.

Seeing it was safe after being caught, the puppy pushed its luck.

He tried to nudge away his ashtray and his cigarettes, Lu thought that sending the delicate puppy out of the room to keep it away from secondhand smoke would stop this behavior, but it didn’t.

It seemed to have a vendetta against his cigarette pack.

And his coffee machine, he found the dog pawing at the power cord several times. The most ridiculous part was that it even tried to share its dog food with him…

The puppy was kind-hearted, but did it really think its dog food was more nutritious than bread?

Finally, one day deep in the night, it broke in, wagging its tail and biting his pant leg, very overconfidently attempting to drag him out.

The physical action failed, but the message was successfully conveyed—it was time to sleep.

The first time, Lu Mingtang refused.

But the puppy was persistent—a second time, a third time… then it began to torture his water dispenser, coffee machine, coffee cups, water glasses, slippers, pants, and other items. To prevent it from going on the table and messing with the important equipment, Lu Mingtang finally raised his hands in surrender:

“Sleep! Sleep! Isn’t sleep all you want?!”

“Awoo~ Woof!” The puppy wagged its tail.

“I’m warning you, no more fussing after we get up. Also, stay away from my coffee. Puppies can’t drink coffee.”

“Awoo awoo!”

“You’re a dog, not a wolf. Don’t ‘awoo’ randomly.”

“Awoo!” As if I have a choice!

“Don’t go near the computer while I’m sleeping. Be good, and Daddy will buy you a bone tomorrow.” Lu Mingtang rubbed his temples. Having sat for too long, he was a bit unsteady when he stood up. The puppy nudged against his feet—a warm little ball, letting out “awoo awoo” sounds. He ruffled the puppy’s head, his voice tender.

It was full of vitality, making Lu Mingtang look like he was at death’s door. If it were several times larger, it could probably have hoisted its owner up and carried him into the bedroom.

Amused by his own imagination, Lu Mingtang pinched the puppy’s scruff with one hand and supported its constantly kicking back legs with the other:

“Do you want to sleep with Daddy? Little puppy.”

The puppy’s kicking slowed down, its eyes turning strangely blank for a moment. “Awoo?”

“Then let’s sleep together.”

“Awoo?”

Ye Li lay quietly in his arms, not understanding which syllable sounded like “Okay,” but regardless, this “human-to-dog” standoff ended in the puppy’s victory. He finally didn’t have to worry about how to handle a potential corpse lying in the room later.

The man and the dog were snuggled in the warm blankets, while outside were nothing but cold spider-monsters. The man didn’t sleep soundly; the puppy was so nervous he didn’t move an inch, staring at the man’s furrowed brow, silently counting his breathing and heartbeat.

During this time, there were perhaps some sleep-talkings, but just like that night in the tailor shop, nothing specific could be made out. Ye Li waited until the latter half of the night, and only when the breathing and heartbeat finally stabilized did he tip-toe slowly off the bed.

He was being sneaky, heading straight for the restricted area his owner had forbidden. Onto the chair, onto the desk, turning on the machine, it was all done in one smooth motion. He even took a moment to listen for any movement in the bedroom, fearing the faint hum of the machine would wake his owner, whose sleep quality was terrible.

Only after confirming there was no movement once the screen lit up did he feel slightly relieved.

Ye Li didn’t know that in Lu Mingtang’s eyes, he had become a “weird” puppy, but he knew how bizarre this scene was.

A dog squatting in front of a computer, doing the exact same work as you, even if Lu Mingtang woke up and saw it, he would doubt he was actually awake.

Dog paws were far less useful than human hands. Fortunately, he had already mastered how to extend and retract his claws. He cautiously extended his claws to practice on the keyboard with remarkable success; in less than a minute, he successfully logged onto his self-built website.

Entered command: Number 1, get up and work.

[Number 1]: At your service, Boss.

Instruction: Inspect “Module Group 1” and run a simulation.

[Number 1]: Inspecting… Estimated completion time: 120 minutes…

Number 1 was the intelligent system he had built before joining the service. Currently, the third-generation machines were in service at the institute. As a first-generation machine, Number 1 wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was more than sufficient for this purpose.

He was a vocal opponent of “intelligent life”—not because he looked down on it, but precisely because he was an expert in it. To him, biological synergy wasn’t a choice; it was the only way, a matter of principle.

Lu Mingtang was one of his rare soulmates. Even if they had disagreements later, it didn’t stop him from helping out secretly. Besides, it was just “secretly”, given Lu’s current mental state, it was impossible for him to discover [Number 1].

Ye Li licked the tip of his nose, his eyes focused. Carefully recalling Lu Mingtang’s behavior over these past few days, he told himself once more:

Absolutely impossible.