Chapter 493: A Psalm of Life
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There were two rows of bungalows, one for people and one for dogs. Zhang Zian and Old Yang followed Fu Tao into one row, while Famous walked alone to the other. Famous didn’t know why it was doing this. It just had a weird feeling.
After Fu Tao brought that old German Shepherd into the kennel, he closed the door, but didn’t lock it. He probably thought that he only needed to lock the gate out in the yard. Since no one would come here to steal, the lock was merely a precaution to scare off kids.
Famous pushed open the kennel door and was greeted by a surge of warm air. There was a space heater hanging on the wall, making the temperature suitable for dogs.
Famous could tell that this building was designed to be a kennel from the beginning, as the interior was divided into many sections. There was a dog in each section, and most of them were German Shepherds.
The sanitation was mediocre compared to that of the pet shop. In the courtyard, Famous could only smell one person, Fu Tao. It must be extremely difficult for him to manage over a dozen old German Shepherds alone, so it made sense that he wasn’t able to clean the kennel regularly. Fu Tao was also in his fifties or sixties, in a few years, other might need to start taking care of him.
“Woo!”
The German Shepherd who had just walked around the hill, was laying on a blanket in Cage 1. Exhausted, it briefly raised its eyes to look at Famous, envying its youth and strength.
The kennel seemed to fade a bit.
Famous was familiar with this feeling.
Galaxy and Old Time Tea could forcibly pull Famous into their Imagined Landscapes because they were powerful enough and their Imagined Landscapes were strong enough. These ordinary cats and dogs couldn’t do this. They didn’t have the intelligence, and their memories were fragmented. In their Imagined Landscapes, Famous was just a non-existent observer.
Fu Tao had always been this German Shepherd’s owner, he established this nursing home for it.
It was very happy to be with its owner for such a long time, and it wanted nothing else.
Famous passed Cage 1 and walked in front of Cage 2.
Inside Cage 2 was another beautiful German Shepherd, about nine years old. Standing in the cage, it looked quite spirited. It was smaller than Famous because it was a female dog. It curiously glanced at Famous and lost interest very soon, so it turned its head and looked out the window, as if waiting for something.
Nine years wasn’t considered old for police dogs, but it meant these dogs just passed the prime of their lives. Although, some police dogs were still in service when they were ten or eleven years old.
The female German Shepherd was a very common police dog.
It had four siblings, and it was neither the strongest nor the weakest one. It had a happy and carefree childhood. After growing up, it taken away from its brothers and sisters. When they first got separated, it was sad, but it felt more relieved because it couldn’t stand fighting its siblings for their mother’s love anymore. All it wished was to have someone who would love it, and it alone.
Its was owned by a female trainer in the police dog training base. Female trainers were relatively uncommon in a police dog training base. Its owner named it Luo Luo and hoped that she would grow to be a graceful lady.
Luo Luo ate, trained and played with her, the two of them practically inseparable. Those were the happiest days of its life. Though the training was tiresome, Luo Luo always praised. If it did a good job, it could eat ham and chicken. So, it became increasingly diligent in its training, hoping to gain more love from her.
However, it was too good to last. Though Luo Luo passed her training and became an official police dog, its grades weren’t the best. This was quite normal. After all, police dogs like Red Dragon and Prince, that passed all their training, were rare. Such situations were similar in human society, most people were standard students with average grades. They graduated from ordinary colleges, and went on to do regular work. Luo Luo was an ordinary police dog.
Luo Luo’s owner was a regular person, with regular emotions. When she was happy, she would hold Luo Luo tightly in her arms, and when she was angry, she would scold it. She also had a small secret, she had a boyfriend back in her hometown. It’s a secret only known by Luo Luo. When she was alone with it, she would take out the photos of her boyfriend and tell Luo Luo what an excellent person he was. Occasionally, she would call him in private, and said that she would someday introduce Luo Luo to her boyfriend.
Famous remembered Wu Ning, who existed in its Imagined Landscape. Wu Ning was somewhat similar to Luo Luo’s trainer. She would also tell Famous and Old Time Tea how handsome the young guys she met in the streets were. She would imagine the faces and voices of authors in Shen Daily and New Youth, wondering if the authors were male or female, and what kind of life they were leading.
Luo Luo thought that the good days would last forever. One day, her owner bought a lot of food, and told Luo Luo that her boyfriend had proposed to her, so she was leaving the base and returning her home. Luo Luo was sincerely happy for her.
It wasn’t too painful when they said goodbye because she repeatedly promised Luo Luo that when it retired, she would take it home and she, her boyfriend, and Luo Luo would play together.
Luo Luo watched her leave.
However, both Luo Luo and its trainer had forgotten something, Luo Luo was young and had a long time before it could retire.
Luo Luo was sent to the police force and handed over to a police officer. Although its new owner also treated it very well, it could never forget its previous owner.
She came to visit Luo Luo several times. They were joyful at every reunion. She repeatedly promised that she would come pick it up on the day of its retirement.
When it saw her for the last time, she was pregnant and having trouble bending over. She held Luo Luo’s head to her belly and let it listen to her baby’s heartbeat.
That was the sound of life.
After listening to it, Luo Luo looked at her stomach in awe, as if it was a holy object.
Later, when Luo Luo’s second owner transferred out of the police force, it got its third owner. The young Luo Luo slowly aged.
Its first owner never came again.
When out on missions, Luo Luo couldn’t help but lay eyes on the young women holding children, trying to find her among numerous people.
Luo Luo had never been particularly good at training. When it got older, it often ranked in last place.
Luo Luo’s third owner was not sure what it was thinking. After considering its age, its owner lightened its training intensity and reduced the number of missions it should take. It was for Luo Luo’s sake, but it also lost the opportunity to search for her in the streets.
Later, the Olympic Games were held in Luo Luo’s city. To ensure the people’s safety, nearly half of the police dogs were forced to retire, and Luo Luo, who had not reached the age of retirement, was included in the list.
No one adopted Luo Luo because the city it lived in did not allow people to raise German Shepherds in private. However, its third owner happened to know Fu Tao and sent it here.
Famous knew from Luo Luo’s eyes that it hadn’t given up hope. It kept staring out the window, and stood up whenever there were strange noises coming from the courtyard. It was waiting for her to come pick it up.
Nearly a year had passed. Luo Luo was aging every day, waiting.
Maybe her husband did not like dogs, maybe she was busy taking care of her children, maybe her trip was delayed. There were too many possibilities. Maybe she had forgotten about it.
Famous remembered Cui Yi and Storm, separating at the gate at the police dog training base. Would Cui Yi fulfill his promise to take Storm home?
Life had many twists and turns, a lot of which, humans couldn’t control. It’s hard to predict what the future would look like.
Famous arrived at Cage 3.
The German Shepherd in Cage 3 was old. It was at least 14 years old, its teeth were rotting, and it looked like it may pass on at any moment.
It left half of its food in the bowl. Losing its appetite was a bad sign.
Famous tentatively approached it and looked through the cage. It moved its nose, but did not open its eyes. Even the instinct of protecting its food had disappeared.
The dog food inside the bowl—some vegetables and meatballs—was soggy, the soft textures perfect for its teeth.
The German Shepherd in Cage 4 was the youngest, at about eight years old.
Famous was startled to see that half of its back right leg was gone, but below its knee was a prosthetic.
The technology of the prosthetic was mediocre, a knock-off version of the legitimate product. The prosthetic was handmade and stuck to the knee with tape and bands, the curved stainless steel serving as a brace.
It vigilantly watched at Famous and barked.
When their eyes met, Famous saw its past.
Its owner gave it a foreign name, X.
Just like Luo Luo, X was not from the Binhai City Police Dog Training Base. X was from the border of Guangdong and Guangxi, it was a border defense police dog.
It was born and raised in the Southwest Police Dog Training Base, and received outstanding grades. When X graduated with honors, it was assigned to the border armed police, which had the most rigid requirements for police dogs.
Lightning, the character Famous played in the movie, was a border defense police dog. Famous didn’t know what an actual border defense police dog looked like, it just acted how the script instructed.
The climate of the subtropical rainforest was unimaginably harsh, especially in the rainy season. The air was hot and humid. X could barely run a few steps before running out of breath.
The mission that X took was the most dangerous it ever had, part of the anti-narcotics task force. Not only were the foreign criminals armed with handguns, but they also had grenades and automatic rifles, so X had to wear a flak jacket for dogs.
During training, X fainted several times from a heat stroke. After being put on an intravenous drip for a few days, it resumed the rigorous training.
It was so humid, its skin was red and tender from being under the flak jacket for so long. X also got eczema, so ts skin was swollen and inflamed on top of its mosquito bites.
After almost each task, a layer of X’s skin would peel off, so its hair was ugly and patchy.
X’s owner felt bad seeing it like this, so he took it to the doctor frequently. He bought Chinese herbal medicine and applied it to the parts of X’s body that were rough and inflamed.
In its memory, Famous saw almost all the police dogs in the border police force suffering from the heat. German Shepherds were not suited to live in the subtropical rainforest. However, they engaged in combat in the border areas for generations to preserve the peace and tranquility.
Near the garrison of the border defense police force, there was a hill where a police dog cemetery was set up by the guards.
Through X’s memory, Famous saw its owner take it to the cemetery.
It was a cloudy weekend. Almost all the police officers that were not on duty that day, arrived at the cemetery to attend the funeral of a mine-clearing dog who had died during a mission.
There were dozens of tombstones in the cemetery. Held by its owner, X saw on a tombstone, The Tomb of the Police Dog, Zai Zai. It also said that Zai Zai was a German Shepherd and that it Served for the Public Cause in the 528 Project.
The tombstone was clean. There was a beige dandelion growing from beneath the tombstone and when the breeze blew, the white pappi flew in all directions.
The grave was dug, prepared for the dog that was to be buried today. The tombstone read, The Tomb of the Police Dog, Mi Xiu. It said that Mi Xiu was a Labrador Retriever and that it Served for the Public Cause in the Mine-clearing Mission.
The owner of the dog placed a small urn into the grave, crying. The armed police officers shoveled dirt into the grave until it was filled.
“Salute!”
In the solemn atmosphere, the executive officer issued an order, and the armed police officers stood upright to salute.
These armed police officers weren’t very good at expressing their feelings, but the salute was their way of showing how they would miss their deceased companion.
The casualty rate of police dogs in the southwest border areas were alarmingly high due to the harsh climate and brutality of their enemies, only a few police dogs were able to retire normally. One day, the misfortune finally befell X.
It was in a major anti-narcotics task force that the public didn’t know about. Almost all the police officers joined the task force to catch the foreign criminals.
The criminals would not surrender easily, resulting in a fierce battle that broke out in the jungle.
During the battle, a grenade was thrown near X’s owner, its owner unaware of the danger. Having previously received training in explosives, X instinctively rushed to its owner and pushed him aside.
The grenade exploded. X lost a leg, but its owner only suffered minor injuries.
At the recognition ceremony, X was rewarded for its admirable deeds, just like Lighting did in the script, but it retired afterwards because it couldn’t continue with missions.
Both Luo Luo and Storm retired when their owners did and waited for their owners to pick them up, but X had retired before its owner.
X’s owner was a resident of Binhai City. He brought X back to his hometown and placed it in Fu Tao’s police dog nursing home. He would come back for X when he retired from the police force.
Famous believed that X’s owner would absolutely come back to pick it up because they were comrades who had shared a near-death experience, nothing could keep them apart. Besides, Binhai City had no regulations that forbid raising German Shepherds. Famous felt bad, it believed X would do a better job portraying Lightning.
X’s prosthetic was made by a carpenter Fu Tao hired.
In spite of its disability, its injuries, and its ugly hair, X still maintained its vigilance and pride. X had the right to feel proud, its crude prosthetic was as dazzling as a medal.
Though it had left the frontline, it was still a warrior.
Squatting on the ground, Famous raised its right paw to salute X.
