Chapter 110: What Happened That Day
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Hearing Fang Zhao decline without even considering made Zaro very discontented. Many years ago, when he'd come to Muzhou to buy a puppy, the people of Muzhou had done the same, using all sorts of excuses to avoid selling him a puppy. In the end, it was through throwing his money at them that they finally accepted. The puppy that he bought was the one he held on a leash beside him, named "Little Angel," and was a descendant of the most valuable dog all those years back.
Zaro wished to pick an MVD to keep his beloved pet dog company. After the first round of the competition, he had set his eyes on Curly Hair. Unfortunately, Curly Hair's breed was not a native shepherd dog of Muzhou, so Zaro had decided to purchase this dog and be done with it. Fang Zhao was not from Muzhou, so he probably would not be that attached to the competition dogs. But now Fang Zhao had declined—could it be that his offer had been too little?
Zaro examined Fang Zhao once more and said, "I know that Curly Hair still has the potential to rise in value. How about this; let me reserve it. When the Muzhou whatever finals are over, I will pay you double its reported value."
As Zaro finished talking, the face of his assistant beside him was twitching. He had been personally picked for the job by Zaro's manager. Starting this job recently, he had promised Zaro's manager that he would watch Zaro at all times and not let him throw his money around purchasing things that he had no need for. That dog was worth 50 million. After the finals, even if it did not reach 100 million, it would still be close. But what was behind doubling the price? If Zaro really spent that amount, the manager would surely fire him when they got back to Leizhou.
At this moment, the new assistant was full of regret. Why had he not stopped Zaro's foolish actions?!
Luckily for him, Fang Zhao promptly replied, "I said I'm not selling."
Zaro's face flashed with anger. "Are you a fool..."
Observing Zaro about to create a commotion, the assistant went to his ear and whispered something. The anger on Zaro's face rapidly vanished and he approvingly said, "Makes sense!"
"Okay, I don't want your dog. When your dog has puppies... Right, your curly-haired dog is a male, it can't give birth. Whenever it has puppies with a female dog, I would like to reserve one. Just name your price then! You should know who I am, right? Just send someone to Leizhou and tell me, or if you can't find me, just mention my name."
Fang Zhao remained silent and Zaro took it as agreement. He was about to say something when his assistant reminded him, "Young Master, time is almost up, we have to rush over."
"Oh right, still have to go fishing!" Zaro looked at the time and got anxious. He had arranged for a fishing competition with others and it would start on time. He turned his head to Fang Zhao and shouted, "Remember, tell me if there are puppies. Daddy has money!"
Watching Zaro hurriedly leave with his assistant and bodyguard, Zu Wen asked Fang Zhao, "Does he have a screw loose?"
"Don't bother with him," Fang Zhao said. This little fellow was lacking a proper upbringing. If Old Renault was still alive, Zaro would have been slapped a long time ago.
Su Hou still needed to go through a series of interviews and participate in some activities by the organizers for publicity. There would be other Su family members there, and Fang Zhao was not worried that anything might happen. Su Feng had told him that the heads had already made their stand, so no one would dare touch Su Hou.
Since they had finished the first round of competition, Zu Wen and the others had time for sightseeing. They were not going to follow Wu Yi and Su Hou all the way. Hence, after leaving the competition grounds, they went with Fang Zhao to take a look at Dongshan Farm, which their boss had invested in.
"It's soooo big! Does all this land belong to Dongshan Farm?"
Being used to the cramped city life, for Pang Pusang, Zeng Huang and the others, their first time in Muzhou was nothing short of amazing.
The newly refurbished Dongshan Farm was very different from when Su Hou had first bought it. Now the farm was full of life. The few lazy dogs had also been trained and were running around the farm. The fields were now full of crops. Although the pastures will still relatively empty, the grass had already grown quite a bit.
Getting to see the scenic landscape, Zu Wen and the others felt refreshed.
Su Feng invited the virtual projects department for a visit to Four Elephants farm when he saw them really enjoying this sort of environment.
Four Elephants Farm had good business all along and was different from the originally empty Dongshan Farm. Four Elephants farm had a vibrant bustle to it. The environment was a combination of primitive and advanced technology. On the farm, there were many modern machines that aided the processes. Some helped with planting, some tending to livestock, some forecasting the weather, and some monitoring the soil. There were many workers, and there were even fish ponds.
Su Feng arranged for his men to show Zu Wen and gang around the farm to explore and enjoy. One week passed by quickly and the vacation time that Fang Zhao had applied for from Duan Qianji came to an end. He could use his status as a composer to stay out in Muzhou and "seek inspiration," but the others could not.
The day Zu Wen and the others left Muzhou was also the second round of the sheep-herding finals. Fang Zhao let Zuo Yu send them back. He would stay in Muzhou for another day.
When it was time for them to board the the flying transport, Zu Wen and the few others kept looking back longingly, feeling as if they had not had their fill of fun yet.
"Stop looking, there will be more chances in the future," Fang Zhao said.
"Thats right!" Zu Wen's brain started to calculate. As long as they could clear all their assignments, perhaps they could go for yet another vacation within the next two months, possibly coming back to watch another round of the competition. However, it would not be as long as this round. Anyway, as long as Fang Zhao was here, all they needed to do was follow him, and everything would be well.
After coming around, Zu Wen's reluctant feelings had somewhat dissipated. They loaded up the gifts Su Feng had given onto the flying transport and left.
Fang Zhao walked into the viewing hall and spectated round two of the finals.
The second round's opening ceremony was not as extravagant as the first, as the level of interest from foreigners was not high as the opening round. But for the masses of Muzhou, it was still an important day. Almost every family would have someone watching the live broadcast.
Compared to the first round, round two was more challenging. The flock of sheep were split up into ten smaller flocks and scattered. The shepherd dogs had to first gather up all of the sheep and then drive them to the goal.
Throughout the entire round, Fang Zhao only paid attention to Curly Hair's performance. He watched as Curly Hair followed Su Hou's instructions as he led the other shepherd dogs to gather up the loosely scattered sheep and form up the flock. Whenever another dog ran to the wrong position, he would bark to remind them to return to the correct position.
As before, Dongshan Farm finished in first place during the second round of competition. This time, though, the second- and third-place teams finished three and five seconds behind, respectively. It could be said that, among the top three finishers, there was not much of a gap in skills after all. And as time went by, the gaps would continue to get closer. This was because, besides Curly Hair, the other dogs on Dongshan's team were not as strong as the dogs on other teams. Therefore, despite winning the first two rounds, no one was certain that Dongshan Farm would be the eventual champions.
After the conclusion of the second round, Fang Zhao left Muzhou and headed back to Yanzhou. Curly Hair continued to stay at Shanmu Farm for training.
For a dog, Muzhou was indeed better than Yanzhou. Dogs could run as much as they wanted to on the vast grasslands there.
Fang Zhao did not let Zuo Yu come pick him up. When he returned to Yanzhou, he did not head to the office, nor did he go home. Instead, he paid the black street a visit.
Yue Qing was lying at his counter dozing off. When he heard the buzzer implying that someone had entered, he jolted awake immediately.
"Fang Zhao?! Why are you here?!" Yue Qing hurriedly pulled Fang Zhao over to the table, and from his innermost cupboard, he took out wine that he had kept hidden for a long time.
Fang Zhao was empty handed. "Brought the team over to Muzhou for a vacation and bought quite a few things that'll be sent to you. You will probably receive it in the afternoon." Taking a look at the time, he continued, "Within two hours."
"Hey, it's fine if you just come. What's the need to buy so much stuff?" Yue Qing felt embarrassed. He had not helped Fang Zhao that much, and the stuff that Fang Zhao sent over was not cheap.
Fang Zhao laughed and took a look at the front of Yue Qing's shop. It seemed even wider than when he had left the black street.
"I brought over your old unit to store goods and I connected all the floors. The shop below also looks more spacious, and it's no longer as cramped as before," Yue Qing said.
"That's good," Fang Zhao said. "Getting the unit next door as well?"
"Hehe, you saw through me." Yue Qing did not hide that fact, as he believed that telling Fang Zhao would not disrupt his property plans.
"The shop next door has been closed for a long time. The shop owner owes a lot of money and is being chased by debt collectors. Recently, he secretly came back and decided to sell the shop to pay off his debts. I have already discussed with him, and if all goes well, it will be finalized within the next month."
"Congratulations."
"I should be the one doing the congratulating. You are famous now." Yue Qing poured Fang Zhao a glass of wine. "Congratulations."
"It's unwarranted fame. It'll probably cool in a bit." Fang Zhao clinked his glass against Yue Qing's and the two proceeded to drain the alcohol.
"Coming back at this time, is there something you need?" Yue Qing asked as he filled up Fang Zhao's glass once more.
"Yes, a little." Back when Fang Zhao had just woken up in this body, he had asked a few people on the black street, but those people had not noticed anything strange on that afternoon. This time, Fang Zhao decided to thoroughly search for answers.
"The night when I first picked up Curly Hair and brought him home, did anything unusual happen?" Fang Zhao asked.
Yue Qing looked at Fang Zhao suspiciously then asked in a low voice, "Is someone trying to harm you?" Yue Qing could not think of any other reasons. He knew that Fang Zhao's childhood friend had done stuff in secret that hurt him and thought that Fang Zhao was tracing the matter.
"I just wish to clarify some stuff."
Yue Qing was certain that it was as he had suspected and did not ask for the reason. He recalled back and then shook his head. "Nothing really unusual happened that night. All I saw was you buying medicine and going back to your apartment, and I thought you were going to commit suicide and have Curly Hair accompany you. These types of suicide are rather popular in the black streets. Some youths in my shop at the time even made bets on that. My impression is rather deep on that matter, but other than that, there was nothing abnormal. I don't think there were any strangers either."
Fang Zhao mused and then asked, "Were there any blackouts or any communications malfunctioning?"
"Nope, everything was good. Did such malfunctions happen in your apartment that day?" Yue Qing paused as he thought. "Wait a minute, let me check."
Yue Qing went to his surveillance records. "Here is a copy of the surveillance footage of those two days. Take a look for yourself and see if you can find anything wrong."