Chapter 298: Chapter 291: Cut Ear Chapter 298: Chapter 291: Cut Ear Although Ancient Zither House is a pet-friendly restaurant, they do have rules. Only those who reserve a private dining room upstairs are permitted to bring pets. Otherwise, with so many tables and customers downstairs, even if some people don’t mind, many more might take issue with it, raising hygienic concerns. Even though many areas are divided by screens, the screens’ effectiveness is limited.

Therefore, Zheng Xuan, with Mr. Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi in tow, headed directly upstairs to the reserved room. Getting a seat at Ancient Zither House was difficult enough, let alone a private room, which, of course, was several times more expensive than dining in the main hall downstairs.

“Because I know people, I can always enjoy a discount when I come here,” Zheng Xuan paused with a somewhat proud tone, “even more than what members receive.”

The neighboring room was arguing about something, and the voices were loud. They couldn’t hear clearly, but this also showed that the soundproofing was quite effective; with the window drawn, door shut, and air conditioning on, unless people started shouting at the top of their lungs, the next room wouldn’t hear a thing.

A menu resembling bamboo slips was delivered. Zheng Xuan introduced the restaurant’s signature and specialty dishes to Mr. Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi. As for Zheng Tan, he sat on a small chair by the window, observing the hustle and bustle of the crowd below.

The argument in the next room intensified, and a ceramic bowl from Ancient Zither House was thrown out, falling to the ground floor and shattering into pieces.

Zheng Tan remembered this place; his father often came here, never alone. Sometimes he brought who-knows-which mistress, other times he was with acquaintances from the marketplace. Of course, the former happened more often, and his integrity was like that ceramic bowl thrown from the next room, shattered to bits. Zheng Tan had also been here twice before: once to eat and another time to slap his father’s mistress.

Internally criticizing his father’s “glorious deeds,” Zheng Tan reflected on the time he came to expose an affair. Suddenly, his eyelids twitched as he remembered why the name ‘Ancient Zither House’ felt so odd to him. It wasn’t the frequent dinners his father had with his mistresses that made a strong impression on him. After all, his father showed romance in many places, taking different lovers to various places for merriment. The reason for his deep impression of this place was something he witnessed when he came here to argue with his father.

It wasn’t anything good, and he couldn’t remember the exact time.

Never mind, don’t think about it.

Zheng Tan figured his luck wouldn’t be this bad, to happen upon that miserable event on the rare occasion he visited.

Yawning, Zheng Tan lay his head by the window and continued to look down, while his ears stayed tuned to the conversation between Mr. Jiao and the others.

Zheng Xuan was lamenting the abundance of wealthy young people in South City. Youths with too much money, regardless of whether their wealth came from their golden fathers, the results spoke for themselves, the facts were the facts.

The three at the table were of a certain age and had their share of life experiences. Their discussion was filled with reflections and laughter, without much jealousy. Zheng Xuan, coming from humble beginnings and low education, had fought his way up from the bottom after first arriving in South City. He saw all kinds of people and had once envied those young people surrounded by luxury cars, beautiful women, and designer goods. Standing on the street with cheap cigarettes in second-hand clothes alongside other migrant workers, they watched the young, wealthy teenagers speeding by in their fancy cars. They were bound to feel envious and a bit bitter. When hearing the term “youths with too much money,” they could only think: Youth has passed, and wealth lies in an unfathomable future.

But now, Zheng Xuan was clearly a positive, motivational success story. He obtained his education through various means, and his financial situation was improving with promising momentum. Having experienced certain things and reaching a certain level, his perspective and state of mind had changed.

Zheng Tan was pondering his past spendthrift life when his gaze caught a familiar silhouette downstairs.

A middle-aged man, none other than Zheng Tan’s father; a woman with a hot figure, his father’s mistress.

Although he knew exactly what kind of person his father was and had seen it all before, the sight still infuriated him.

As Zheng Tan’s father walked into Ancient Zither House with his arms around the woman, Zheng Tan rested his head against the window, glaring furiously at the pair until they were out of sight.

“What’s Lucky Cat looking at?” Yuan Zhiyi nudged Mr. Jiao with her elbow and nodded toward Zheng Tan before getting up and peering out the window.

Mr. Jiao and Zheng Xuan also looked curiously downstairs, but by the time they got there, Zheng Tan’s father had already entered the restaurant with his mistress. All Mr. Jiao and the others saw was a large black dog being led out from an SUV below.

“Oh, he’s looking at that? That’s Chairman Shu’s beloved dog, a Great Dane named Mars,” explained Zheng Xuan, also mentioning Chairman Shu and some of his business dealings with him.

“No, that’s not right,” Yuan Zhiyi’s focus wasn’t on how impressive Chairman Shu and his company were, but on that Great Dane, “A friend of mine also has a Great Dane, and it doesn’t look like that.”

“What’s different about it?” Mr. Jiao was only familiar with cats because he had one at home. As for dog breeds, he only knew the basics.

Zheng Tan’s attention was also diverted by their conversation to observing the Great Dane. Unfortunately, he didn’t know much about dogs either. The breeds he was familiar with were just the few he had seen, such as the Saint Bernard called Hua Jiongjiong from the courtyard, the Bull Terrier named Niu Zhuangzhuang, the Chihuahua that always barked at the sheriff, and Sahara, the mixed-breed with three different bloodlines. He might have seen a Great Dane before but didn’t remember since he hadn’t paid attention.

After staring at the Great Dane down below for a while, Yuan Zhiyi clapped her hands, “I’ve got it, the ears! That’s what I was saying, the ears of my friend’s Great Dane are erect, making it look very alert and majestic. This one is different, its neck seems a bit short.”

“Oh,” Zheng Xuan suddenly understood. Due to his business dealings with Chairman Shu, he had spent some time learning about him and knew that the man liked dogs, and so he also did some research on dogs. Now that he heard what Yuan Zhiyi said, Zheng Xuan also knew the reason behind it.

“That’s because Chairman Shu’s Great Dane hasn’t had ear cropping surgery,” Zheng Xuan explained.

“Ear cropping surgery?”

“Yes, just like some dogs have their tails docked, many owners consider ear cropping for certain dog breeds they keep. Originally, Great Danes have drooping ears, but after ear cropping, the ears will stand erect. So, Mr. Yuan, your friend’s Great Dane must have had the ear cropping surgery.”

Ear cropping and tail docking are quite common in dogs, some for the needs of their breed’s work, facilitating fighting or hunting, and many modern breed standards include ear cropping and tail docking mostly for aesthetics. Sometimes, after getting used to the cropped ears and docked tails, people will assume that’s how those dogs naturally look. Like Dobermans, to some laymen, droopy ears and a long tail mean an unauthentic Doberman. If you point out a Doberman with its natural ears and tail on the street, they will definitely say: Bullshit, are you kidding me!

Some owners who have not had this kind of surgery done on their dogs are embarrassed to upload pictures online because they will be criticized, and taking the dog out for a walk can lead to pointing and gossip, which is quite awkward.

“Some countries have banned these surgical procedures on dogs now, but there are hardly any restrictions in our country. There is a lot of debate in China about these surgeries. One side says ear cropping and tail docking are for the dog’s own good, preventing ear mites and other ear diseases, improving hearing and so on. The other side refutes with examples, arguing it’s inhumane. Anyway, it’s a heated argument, and Chairman Shu is among those opposing the practice. That’s why he hasn’t had ear cropping surgery done on his Great Dane.” Zheng Xuan didn’t finish what he was saying. Many people had advised Chairman Shu to get the ear cropping surgery for his Great Dane, only to be chased off with a “Fuck off.” There were many who had been cursed by Chairman Shu because of this. Zheng Xuan did not want to repeat those words here, but every time he remembered, he found it funny; Chairman Shu truly was an interesting character.

Hearing what Zheng Xuan said, Zheng Tan felt relieved he hadn’t turned into a breed that required tail docking or ear cropping. Indeed, being a local breed had its advantages.

The food at Ancient Zither House was really good, no wonder Zheng Xuan praised it so highly. The owner of Ancient Zither House, knowing that Zheng Xuan was bringing friends over, even specifically sent over a bowl of clear soup noodles. It’s unknown how it was made, but it indeed was memorable and justified the three to four-digit price on the menu.

The food was truly good, but Zheng Tan ate somewhat absentmindedly. He was thinking about which private room his irresponsible father had chosen to dine in with his mistress and whether he should go take a look and add to their trouble.

After a satisfying meal and more conversation, the three of them prepared to leave. Zheng Tan stayed inside Mr. Jiao’s backpack. As they left the private room, Zheng Tan saw people coming out of the private room opposite, his father, and his father’s mistress.

Zheng Tan took a deep breath, holding back from rushing out to slap the two people, but his gaze on them was quite unpleasant, making the couple feel a chill inside when they met Zheng Tan’s cat eyes upon exiting. Knowing that pets could be brought into the place and having seen them several times, they didn’t say anything due to face-saving concerns, but Zheng Tan’s father’s mistress couldn’t stand his gaze and coquettishly urged to leave quickly while clinging to Zheng Tan’s father’s arm.

Zheng Tan’s father also felt a chill inside. He always found the Black Cat’s gaze particularly eerie, making him feel uneasy. Urged by his mistress, he too wanted to leave quickly and took large strides to do so.

Zheng Xuan was caught up chatting with the owner of Ancient Zither House for a moment, clearly on good terms as the owner even gave Mr. Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi a VIP card each.

Because of the slight delay, Mr. Jiao and the others ended up walking behind Zheng Tan’s father.

Zheng Xuan had reserved private room 212, which was some distance from the staircase. While they were walking towards the staircase, someone was coming up the stairs. On seeing this person, Zheng Xuan frowned slightly but didn’t say anything, obviously recognizing them but choosing not to greet them.

Mr. Jiao paused his gaze on that person for a moment. Although the person appeared very calm, perhaps by intuition, he felt something was off about them.

Zheng Tan watched his father and the mistress disappear around the staircase corner, then shifted his attention to the person who had just come upstairs. He was particularly sensitive to the auras of many people, and this person gave Zheng Tan a bad vibe, as if there was an aura of murder about him. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep