Zhen Zhinian snapped back to reality. "I almost forgot. The dog was being chased out by three girls. One of them said that if it weren't for the dog, she would have been lying in her idol's arms right now. She also said she bought the information for a lot of money. Come to think of it, they must have been sasaeng fans."
Ding Chengxin said, "How about you tell us everything you heard and saw while we walk you home?"
"Sure," Zhen Zhinian replied.
The seven of them stepped forward. Zhang Zhenyuan, Yan Haoxiang, and He Junlin walked to Zhen Zhinian's right, while Ma Jiaqi, Ding Chengxin, Song Yaxuan, and Liu Yaowen walked to her left.
Zhen Zhinian looked to the right and then to the left. *(Stay calm, Zhen Zhinian, keep it together, ahhhhh! Good deeds really do pay off! Let me find a chance later to ask for a group photo—I could brag about that for ages!)*
Ma Jiaqi asked, "Do you mind if we record this?"
Zhen Zhinian blinked. "Huh?"
Zhang Zhenyuan explained, "We want to record it so we can handle the situation properly later."
"That's fine. Should I start from the very beginning?" Zhen Zhinian asked.
Ding Chengxin nodded. "Yes, start from when you first saw Huan."
Zhen Zhinian began: "All right. I had just gotten off work and was walking home. When I passed that section near the residential complex, I saw a dog running ahead, with three girls chasing after it. I thought the dog was just being disobedient, so I kept walking. After a few steps, I felt like the dog was running straight toward me and barking really fiercely. I got scared and pressed myself against the wall, but the dog stopped right beside me and barked at those girls.
"Then one of the girls picked up a stick from the roadside and started cursing at the dog: 'What are you barking at, you damn dog? You ruined all my plans! If it weren't for you, I'd be lying in my idol's bed right now! Because of you, all that money I spent on the information went to waste, and now this stupid dog has ruined everything. I'll beat you to death!'
"The more she talked, the angrier she got, and she started walking over. The dog just stood there barking at her. I stood by the wall, and after listening to what she said, I realized none of those girls were the dog's owner. Seeing the girl with the stick walking over looking so fierce, the dog just stood its ground and kept barking.
"I was pretty scared back then. There wasn't a soul in sight on that long road. I wanted to step in, but I was also afraid of getting hit. In the end, after hesitating for a few seconds, I still walked over to the dog and said to the approaching girl, 'What you're doing is illegal.' The girl just snapped, 'None of your business! Get lost right now, or I'll beat you up too.'
"Suddenly, I remembered a TV show I'd watched before, where the female lead ran into some thugs and scared them off by pretending to live-stream. So I copied the female lead and started pretending to stream. At first, they didn't believe me—they said it was fake and wanted to come over and beat me up. I had no choice, so I bit the bullet and actually started a live stream set to 'Private.' After that, they seemed to believe it.
"I don't know what they were arguing about among themselves, but one of the girls got slapped. Fearing that slap might land on my face, I pretended to read a comment from the chat: 'Anchor, are you on XXXX Road? I've already called the police for you.' Two of the girls heard the word 'police' and ran away. The remaining one glared at me and told me to just wait, and then threw her stick at me. I reacted quickly and dodged it, and then they all left."
After finishing, Zhen Zhinian looked at Zhang Zhenyuan beside her, took two steps closer to him, and lowered her voice. "Do I need to keep going with what happened after that?"
Too nervous to speak, Zhang Zhenyuan simply nodded at her.
Seeing his nod, Zhen Zhinian continued: "After they left, I was in a hurry to go home and watch the—" She immediately caught herself and swallowed the last four words. "I was also in a hurry to get home. So I told the dog, 'Just follow the path you came from and go back yourself,' and then I left. I didn't think anything was following me until I reached the entrance of my complex and realized the dog had been trailing me the whole time. I lectured it for a long time, telling it to go back and that you guys would be worried sick if you couldn't find it. After that, I went upstairs, took a shower, and went to sleep. But I couldn't fall asleep, worrying that the dog was still outside, so I got up, grabbed my phone and a jacket, and went back out. As soon as I stepped out of the complex, I saw the dog lying flat on the ground. I asked it if it was scared of running into those girls again.
"It said 'mm-hmm'—no, wait, dogs can't talk. It barked once. Then I asked if it wanted me to accompany it, and it barked again. I was also scared of running into those girls again, so I borrowed a flashlight from the security guard's booth and followed it. We walked and walked, and suddenly the dog barked. It startled me so much I bit my tongue, and then I saw a handsome guy squatting down, and the dog just ran right up to him."
Zhen Zhinian's mouth felt tired, and her tongue hurt. "Is that good? I can't talk anymore, my tongue hurts."
Ma Jiaqi tapped the screen to stop the recording. "That's good enough."
The moment he said it was over, Song Yaxuan burst out laughing, taking the lead. "Hahaha, the way you talk is so funny! 'It said mm-hmm!'"
Zhen Zhinian groaned. "My mouth was running way ahead of my brain!"
He Junlin remarked, "You're pretty brave, though. Weren't you scared they'd just come over and beat you up when you faked the live stream?"
"Of course I was scared!" Zhen Zhinian said. "While I was faked-streaming, I pulled out every single line I'd ever heard anchors use in all the live streams I'd watched in my entire life. I messed up so many things, too. At one point, I said, 'Thank you, big boss, for the helicopter,' but it came out as, 'Thank you, big boss, for the tractor.' Luckily, they weren't paying close attention, or I would have been done for."
Song Yaxuan laughed out loud. "Hahahahaha, a tractor?!"
He Junlin chuckled. "Hahahaha, impressive."