Chapter 570: Relaying Messages

Translator:

Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor:

Nyoi-Bo Studio

Masanori Suzuhara usually contacted her cla.s.smates and seniors in

j.a.pan using Line, but she’d started using Wechat after coming to China.

School hadn’t started yet, and she only had a few Wechat contacts,

including the counselor and Zhang Zian.

She went back to the international student’s residence, and set up a

cozy spot for Snoopy. Pets weren’t forbidden in the residence, but

otherwise she would have to rent a room outside. Rent in China was

cheaper than j.a.pan and there was no need to pay unnecessary money.

Still, she wanted to get to know more Chinese friends during her limited

days in the country.

Although she’d taken care of former Snoopy in the lab for a long

time, technically this was still her first time owning a pet of her own.

She didn’t know that beagles often annoyed the neighbors and she

started to grow anxious after remembering the conversation between Zhang

Zian and Qian Bowen.

This Snoopy was well trained by Zhang Zian at the pet shop, and only

barked once or twice since it had arrived at the residence. She

remembered Zhang Zian’s advice and resisted the urge to look back at it.

She stared at her phone, and didn’t even turn her head when it barked.

She received lots of Line greetings from her lab seniors, asking her

how she was doing in China, what it was like around her, and if she was

being mistreated by anyone.

Masanori Suzuhara read the messages and smiled. Before coming here,

all she knew about China was through TV news and costume dramas, which

easily could have exaggerated the way things actually were. The seniors’

worries were understandable.

Snoopy barked two more times, but she continued to ignore it. After

that, it stopped barking, and sniffed around the room the explore the

new territory.

Masanori Suzuhara had been paying attention to its movements, and

felt rea.s.sured after seeing that it had finally stopped barking. The

former Snoopys were kept in a lab that had good sound insulation, and

even then, n.o.body was there during the night time. n.o.body cared how much

they barked. But the residence was different.

She responded to all of the greetings from her seniors, and tried her

best to clarify their misunderstandings about China, telling them not

to worry as she tried to adapt to her new life.

In addition, some of her close girl friends were asking her if she’d

been eating properly, and if she could ever get used to the food in

China. They told her to take more local products from j.a.pan with her the

next time she travelled back.

The most frequently asked question, from either her seniors or

cla.s.smates, was asking why she hadn’t updated Twitter in such a long

time, and if she had run into any difficulties or trouble.

Regarding this subject, she just told them it was a long story. She

wanted to complain, but she wasn’t able to actually say anything.

After answering all of the greetings, she asked her seniors about the

biomedical device company that had been cooperating with the lab, along

with inquires about their contact information.

The seniors did some research and sent her the company’s information.

Her phone vibrated. The delivery man had arrived at the international

students’ residence, and was calling for her to pick up her stuff. The

cage she ordered from the pet shop had arrived.

Masanori Suzuhara put aside her other business, picked up the cage

downstairs, paid for the courier, and then started to set up a cozy

s.p.a.ce for Snoopy. She was following Zhang Zian’s advice. It was

necessary to use a cage before Snoopy was fully trained.

She put an old blanket in the cage, and put another layer of

waterproof cloth on top, in case Snoopy peed or p.o.o.ped while inside. The

old blanket was actually only a few days old.

After that, she put a pair of old gloves on top of the old blanket.

According to Zhang Zian, when she was not in the room, it would be

better to let Snoopy keep on smelling her. It would calm the dog down,

so it wouldn’t panically bark for its missing owner.

The shopping bag from the pet shop was on the table, and the QR code

was too glaring to be ignored. She took out another item from the bag.

It was the last resort to stop the beagle from barking; a dog mask. The

dog couldn’t open its mouth once it was on, thus preventing it from

making any noise. However, she didn’t want to use this unless she had

to.

The dog mask was much different from a shock collar. It was defensive, practical, and useful.

When Zhang Zian recommended the dog mask to Masanori Suzuhara, he took the time to educate her about the reality of China.

When walking a dog outside, no matter how friendly the dog was, if it

was not as obedient as a police dog, it would always be better to use a

mask. Apart from preventing bad situations of biting and barking, the

mask could also prevent the dog from eating unknown food. Every year,

many dogs died from poisoning after eating random food from outside.

If some person hated either the dog or the owner, they could place

poisonous bait in their residential areas. The dog would die as soon as

it consumed it, leaving no time for medical aid. If a regular dog had

not been fully trained to resist this type of food, it was necessary to

put on a mask when it went outside, before something terrible happened.

She was horrified after hearing this, and immediately agreed to buy the mask.

After entering the cage, Snoopy barked a few more times. Maybe it

didn’t want to be locked up. But Masanori Suzuhara ignored it, opened

her laptop, and started writing out an email using the contact

information provided by her seniors. The email address they gave her was

not an official company address, but the personal email of a business

manager whom the seniors knew very well and often had drinks with.

The seniors asked her what her purpose was when they provided her the

contact information. She replied that she had received a favor from a

pet shop owner in China, and was trying to do something to return the

favor.

She stated her ident.i.ty and intentions in the email, hoping that the

recipient would make an exception. After all, this company had only been

selling their automatic dog washers in j.a.pan, and not in other

countries. Transportation was a major issue. An automatic dog washer was

heavy and bulky, much bigger than common was.h.i.+ng machines used in

households.

After sending the email, Masanori Suzuhara saw that Snoopy had

already quieted down, and was staring at her while lying down in the

cage. Its eyes looked a bit sad.

“Good job, Snoopy,” she said, praising it.

She let it out of its cage, and sat down on the cold floor with it,

as part of her old habits. She trained it to sit, squat, and lie down

with some treats.

Snoopy immediately got excited, and played with her happily. However,

it wasn’t responding to her training demands. Beagles were often too

lively and difficult to train, as they were not obedient. Still, she

knew that some beagles were trained as police dogs to detect drugs.

“Woof!”

Snoopy jumped to grab the food out of her hands, and barked with disappointment after failing to do so.

Masanori Suzuhara quickly stood up from the ground and went back to her seat. She noticed that a new email had arrived.

The business manager replied to her email, saying that the company

was not planning on expanding the automatic dog washer business in China

just yet. But, the company was going to bring a machine to China to

partic.i.p.ate in a home technology exhibition. If they didn’t mind, the

company would consider leaving the washer behind, the one that was going

to be used as a sample for the display. It would spare them the trouble

of s.h.i.+pping it back to j.a.pan. However, they needed to discuss the

further details of the plan and they also couldn’t offer free warranty

services.

After seeing that its owner was ignoring it, Snoopy heistantly came

over, circled her chair a few times around, sniffed her feet, and then

stood up to put its two front paws on her leg, asking her to play.

Masanori Suzuhara was trying to focus on the email. She had to let

Snoopy know that barking meant punishment, which included barking from

being ignored and being without food or play. She’d heard about the

trouble that Qian Bowen had encountered with his beagle. She must pay

close attention, in order not to repeat the same mistakes and to avoid

annoying others.

She read the email twice, thought about it, and then texted Zhang

Zian. She was only the messenger responsible for relaying the message to

Zhang Zian. Zhang Zian had to make the final decision, and see if he

was willing to accept a sample automatic dog washer from the exhibition.

Snoopy barked two more times and scratched her leg to get her

attention. But it was only disappointed. The owner was acting like a

wooden statue, focused on her work, and not responding to its behavior.

Zhang Zian replied quicker than she had expected.

He texted her back and said, he knew about the challenges from

s.h.i.+pping, and didn’t mind if it was a display sample from the

exhibition. He was willing to buy it at the price of a new machine. As

for the warranty, it was a shame, but he couldn’t really do anything

about it. The company didn’t have a branch in China, and he understood

their reasoning. If the machine broke while using, he was willing to pay

for the repairs himself.

Masanori Suzuhara incorporated Zhang Zian’s reply in her email, and sent it back to the business manager.

Snoopy laid down by her feet sadly, and looked up at her from time to

time. It seemed to have accepted the fact that she did not like to be

disturbed while working, and had to wait for her to finish.

After it had calmed down, Masanori Suzuhara leaned over, placed it on

her lap, and combed its hair with a small brush. She said gently,

“Snoopy, don’t bark, and don’t annoy other people. Otherwise, I wont

play with you.”

Despite the fact that it was named Snoopy, it was actually a female

dog. Female beagles were quieter than the males. The one that Qian Bowen

had owned was male, and barked more for that reason.

Snoopy laid on her lap comfortably and let her brush its hair. It didn’t bark at all.

The business manager replied to her email again, saying that they

appreciated the accommodation of their Chinese counterparts. He also

brought along some good news. Since the voltage in j.a.pan was 110V, not

compatible with the voltage in China, to ensure a successful

demonstration in the exhibition, the company would bring a special

voltage converter to China and give it to them with the machine for free

after the exhibtion.

Masanori Suzuhara tapped her forehead, and thanked them for being so

considerate. She hadn’t thought of this issue before. If they had gotten

the automatic dog washer, but couldn’t use it because of its different

voltage, she would have been so embarrased.

She informed Zhang Zian of the latest news, and successfully fufilled her role as messenger.

“Great job, Snoopy. You’re being really good,” she said to it gently.