Chapter 50: The Clown is Actually Himself

Back to the villa.

As soon as Chen Yuran entered the door, she threw herself onto the living room sofa. With a casual backhand, she shooed away Stinky Tofu, who had enthusiastically approached.

"Off with you, I’m tired!"

"Woof..."

Stinky Tofu whimpered, feeling wronged after being smacked away.

As a pet dog who hadn’t seen his owner for more than twenty hours, wasn’t it reasonable for him to be excited?

Even if tired, couldn’t she humor him a bit?

Just as Stinky Tofu was feeling wronged, Chen Yuran naturally opened her arms.

"Ji Qing."

At that moment, Ji Qing was resting on Li Jing’s shoulder, lazily yawning.

Hearing the call, her gem-like eyes blinked twice. She stepped onto Li Jing’s shoulder, sprung a good four or five meters, and landed into Chen Yuran’s embrace.

Ji Qing always had a strong survival instinct.

However, this moment had nothing to do with survival.

It was mainly because she unconsciously became accustomed to being intimate with Chen Yuran.

Being held to sleep every night, she couldn’t help but get used to it, in a way, she had been "slept" into submission.

Seeing Chen Yuran happily embracing Ji Qing, Stinky Tofu, who had just been smacked away and ignored, felt extremely wronged, whimpered and ran to find Li Jing.

Observing this, Li Jing couldn’t help but chuckle.

Ji Qing, as the "third party", had been favored for over a week now.

Shouldn’t this silly dog have gotten used to this?

Why is he so sensitive?

Consoled, Li Jing reached out and stroked Stinky Tofu’s head, speaking.

"Alright, stop howling all day, come with me to the kitchen, I’ll get you something to eat."

"Woof!"

Stinky Tofu howled, as if to say, "Li Jing, you are a good man."

Li Jing smiled and turned around.

Such scenes had been played out daily over the past week, he had gotten used to it.

Just as he was about to head to the kitchen, Chen Yuran casually spoke from the sofa.

"Li Jing, don’t feed Stinky Tofu too much meat, haven’t you noticed that he has stopped eating dog food lately? It’s about to change season, if you keep feeding him meat, his fur will shed badly."

Then she added another sentence.

"Also, don’t be too kind. Sure, it’s in Stinky Tofu’s nature as a husky to be stubborn, but he’s not as naive as you think. He keeps annoying me then runs to you for comfort, essentially taking advantage of you."

Listening to Chen Yuran’s first part, Li Jing didn’t take it for anything.

However, upon hearing the second part, he started to get suspicious.

If it had been said by someone else, he might not have cared.

But this was said by Chen Yuran...

Who was Chen Yuran?

The one who had raised Stinky Tofu for a full seventeen years!

If anyone knew Stinky Tofu the best, undoubtedly, it was her.

Halting, frowning, Li Jing turned his head.

What met his eyes was Stinky Tofu looking evasive as if guilty, even his tail stopped wagging.

"..."

Li Jing.

Just from Stinky Tofu’s guilty look, he could already tell that what Chen Yuran had said was merely the cold hard truth.

The more he thought about it, the more something felt off.

Ever since Ji Qing arrived, Chen Yuran indeed prefers the new over the old.

However, Stinky Tofu, who had been wronged, never protested, not only remained silent but also constantly tried to please, then ran to him once being brushed off.

Thinking from a different perspective.

What was the difference between him and the backup?

Compared to this, Stinky Tofu seeking comfort from him wasn’t really anything.

Upon noticing the key point, Li Jing’s face gradually darkened.

All along, he had laughed it off.

But in the end, it turned out he was the clown!

It was him that was truly played!

He was tricked by a dog...

Barely holding back the urge to slap Stinky Tofu’s head, Li Jing pointed woodenly at the doghouse in the corner of the room.

"From today onwards, no more meat, eat your dog food."

At the sound, Stinky Tofu abruptly lifted its head, opened its mouth and barked wildly as if trying to explain itself.

Li Jing rolled his eyes and ignored the dog before walking away.

He could care less about it at first, but now that he realized, would he take its howling into account?

Since everything hit him, he thought of so much more.

It was undeniable that Stinky Tofu still had its husky nature.

Acting foolish is something usual.

But at the end of the day, it was no ordinary husky.

This thing lived seventeen years. It’s an "old dog"!

People age and become wiser!

How bad can an old dog be?

Li Jing was pissed.

To be scorned by a shady woman was something he could accept.

In this life, who wouldn’t meet a few bad people?

But to be emotionally manipulated by a dog and only realize it when someone pointed out? This is hell!

Ji Qing, with narrow cat-like eyes, stared at Stinky tofu barking non-stop as Li Jing walked into the kitchen with a blackened expression.

Judging by Chen Yuran’s words.

He didn’t just remind Li Jing, but her as well.

Like Li Jing, she also didn’t realize how deep Stinky Tofu had plotted.

But can you blame them when Stinky Tofu is acting foolish and silly all day, completely unsuspecting?

...

After dinner.

Chen Yuran carried Ji Qing upstairs to sleep, while Li Jing who realized he had been a clown, confined himself to his room, leaving Stinky Tofu alone in the living room.

Just as he lay in bed, Li Jing received a private message from Kong Wu on Immortal Message.

"Captain Dai from the sixth team of major cases has contacted me, you did a great job in the Evil Cultivators case. There’s no rush to come back to work, I’m giving you a couple of days off to rest," Kong Wu wrote.

After reading the message, Li Jing’s mood took an uplift.

Although Kong Wu’s character was a bit questionable, he still handled the matters professionally.

Just as Li Jing was thinking about this, there was another message from Kong Wu.

"You can take a few days off, but we don’t have paid holidays in Assistant Inspector Department. If you plan to earn your full salary for this month, you’ll have to make up for the lost hours later," it read.

Seeing Kong Wu as a textbook figure of the capitalist class, Li Jing forced a smile while quietly taking back his praise.

He sent a "Got it" back to Kong Wu then sighed, lying flat on the bed.

His 24 hours as a temporary member of the major cases team was an eventful experience.

He’d not even had a chance to rest in that time.

The entire duration was high-intensity.

After this experience, Li Jing understood why the investigators had such high salaries.

It was not just about risking their lives, but all the overtime and on-call duties without any chance to slack off.

Compared to this, the Assistant Inspector Department was much more relaxing.

Thinking about having two days off, Li Jing picked up his phone and texted Liu Sisi.

"Sisi, it’s been half a month. How’s the renovation going at the shop?" he asked.

Liu Sisi’s reply was quickly.

Just as Li Jing sent the message and hadn’t had the chance to place his phone down, a message promptly arrived from Liu Sisi.

"You heartless! You finally remembered me? After promising to have dinner last time, you didn’t even send a message! I thought you had forgotten me!" it read.

Seeing her message filled with complaints, Li Jing chuckled.

He had been working late into the night recently.

Even though he didn’t fall asleep as soon as he got home, he got home in the early hours of the morning.

Their schedules were not synced at all.

Could that be his fault?

Just as he was about to reply to her message, Liu Sisi texted him again.

"The renovation in the shop is almost finished, it should reopen in few days," she wrote.

Before Li Jing could reply, Liu Sisi sent another message.

"You texted me suddenly. Did you get a break? I need to see you, can we have dinner?" she asked.

Over time, Li Jing had grown used to Liu Sisi’s impulsive nature.

After three months of being together, he’s become accustomed to her sudden changes.

Seeing her message saying she needed to see him and proposing dinner, Li Jing casually replied.

"Sure, I’ll pick you up tonight," he wrote.