Chapter 122: The Promotional Video

The final outcome was actually much better than Zhang Congwen had anticipated.

Zhang Congwen instructed Yan Shuang's mother to step outside the door, wait for three seconds, and then come back in.

At first, the bully dog seemed a bit bewildered, showing signs of separation anxiety. But soon, the anxiety faded, and the dog lay on the floor, seemingly contemplating its canine existence.

When Yan Shuang’s mother re-entered, following Zhang Congwen’s instructions, she first extended her hand toward the bully dog, letting it sniff her scent.

This was meant to communicate to the bully dog that even though its owner had left briefly, nothing significant had changed, and everything remained the same.

Though it appeared to be a trivial interaction, it actually helped to build the dog’s sense of security.

Next, Zhang Congwen once again asked Yan Shuang’s mother to leave the room, this time extending her stay outside. When she returned, the bully dog remained remarkably calm and composed, showing no signs of anxiety whatsoever.

Stable as an old dog, utterly unperturbed.

After several repetitions with increasingly longer intervals outside, the bully dog never exhibited any unusual behavior.

This transformation delighted the entire Yan family, leaving them both thrilled and incredulous.

Especially Yan Shuang, who kept praising Zhang Congwen so much that he felt a bit embarrassed.

Moreover, Yan Shuang declared she would personally oversee her mother’s training efforts until the dog, affectionately nicknamed “Meatball,” became a normal, well-behaved pet.

When Zhang Congwen returned to the canine training base, he still couldn’t shake off the impression left by Yan Shuang’s parents’ eccentric behavior.

Just as he planned to take a break, Zhu Qingyan arrived.

“I’ve decided to make a promotional video for our training base. What do you think?” Zhu Qingyan asked Zhang Congwen.

“Sounds good. I’ve wanted to do this for a while but wasn’t sure what to focus on,” Song Jiawei chimed in from the side.

Zhang Congwen pondered for a moment and said, “Since this is a dog training base, our promo should definitely emphasize dog training.”

Song Jiawei nodded. “In that case, we can reach out to some of our previous clients and select a few representative cases to feature in the video.”

Zhu Qingyan grinned and said, “Great minds think alike.”

Song Jiawei then suggested, “Should we include the story of Xiaoxiao and Dasheng? There are only three assistance dogs for autistic children in the whole country, yet there are over ten million people with autism, with nearly three to five million autistic children. If we feature this, it could draw significant attention.”

“No way!” both Zhang Congwen and Zhu Qingyan said in unison.

“We help Xiaoxiao because we want to, not to exploit the story for clicks,” Zhu Qingyan explained.

Seeing their firm stance, Song Jiawei awkwardly added, “What do you think I am? Yes, helping Xiaoxiao is our choice, and initially, none of us intended to use it for publicity. But I still believe we’re doing a good deed, and good deeds should yield some reward. There’s truth in the saying ‘even the king of heaven rewards good deeds.’ We’re not just using Xiaoxiao’s case as a gimmick without real work behind it!”

Zhang Congwen had to admit that Song Jiawei’s words made sense.

People say good deeds should be done without expecting anything in return, but that’s the mindset of the doer.

If everyone held that belief, it might discourage people from doing good deeds at all, given that saints are few and ordinary folks are many.

Good deeds should come with good reward—that’s how it ought to be.

Still, Zhang Congwen thought for a moment and said, “It’s not feasible. If Dasheng is fully trained, then promoting that would be justified. But since the training isn’t complete yet, promoting it now would seem like we’re just chasing clicks. Moreover, if Dasheng doesn’t turn out well, the backlash from the attention could be more than our small training base can handle. Besides, we’re not a professional organization dedicated to assistance dogs, so we’d face even more scrutiny.”

Song Jiawei considered this and agreed, dropping the idea.

After much discussion, the three finally settled on a list of dogs to feature in the promotional video.

There was Big Tiger from Boss Xie’s family, Big Ear from Lin Xiaoru’s, the three dogs from Sun Zimu’s house, the dog from the landlord’s place, the one adopted by Qian Kou, the Tibetan Mastiff belonging to Chief Ding, and Banban from Zhou Xingxing’s family.

Each of these dogs could serve as a typical case in the video.

These examples were not only representative but also came from owners who were relatively easy to communicate with. Unfortunately, since the training base had only been open a short time, the number of usable cases was limited.

Once the list was finalized, Song Jiawei began reaching out to the owners one by one.

To Zhang Congwen’s surprise, all the dog owners readily agreed to participate except Sun Zimu’s family.

Just as Zhang Congwen was about to remove them from the list, Xie Caizhe suddenly messaged, saying he could help persuade Sun Zimu’s family.

No one knew what methods Xie Caizhe used, but in the end, Sun Zimu’s family agreed to the filming.

With everything set, and a team of professional videographers hired, the group’s first stop was Zhou Xingxing’s home.

After several months, seeing Zhang Congwen and his companions arrive, Zhou Xingxing no longer wore the worried expression she had when they first met. Instead, she smiled warmly.

She called out softly, and a fluffy white figure ambled over.

Despite the many strangers and the array of strange equipment they carried, Banban showed no fear.

This was no longer the skittish dog they first met.

The previously tangled and messy fur had been trimmed, revealing the natural beauty of a Samoyed, transforming Banban into a handsome dog once more.

Now, Banban loved to stick closely behind Zhou Xingxing, following her everywhere like a devoted shadow.

This alone spoke volumes about the deep bond they’d cultivated.

When Zhang Congwen reached out his left hand to pet Banban, the dog initially flinched slightly but didn’t twitch or tremble as before. It quickly overcame its fear and nudged Zhang Congwen’s hand with its nose.

Having accepted Zhang Congwen’s affection smoothly, Song Jiawei and Zhu Qingyan couldn’t resist stepping forward to pet Banban as well.

Especially Zhu Qingyan, who had no resistance whatsoever to anything fluffy and soon found herself covered in dog hair.

After all, Samoyeds are notorious in the dog world for shedding like dandelions. Within moments, Zhu Qingyan was nearly transformed into a “snowman.”

Yet, she didn’t mind in the slightest.

But she didn’t linger on Banban’s beauty for long and promptly began the work at hand.

Zhu Qingyan was assigned to conduct the interviews, her striking looks making her a captivating presence on camera.

In front of the lens, she showed no signs of stage fright, appearing almost like a sprite as she interviewed Zhou Xingxing.

Two beautiful women sharing the frame naturally drew a lot of attention.

Listening to Zhou Xingxing recount her story with Banban, Zhu Qingyan couldn’t hold back tears on camera.

Even long after filming ended, Zhu Qingyan kept murmuring the story of Zhou Xingxing and Banban under her breath.