Chapter Fifty-Two: Choosing Romance Over Friendship

Zhang Congwen’s suggestion wasn’t out of any personal motive; it was simply that he needed someone to help, and Xie Caizhe was the natural choice.

Originally, Zhang Congwen intended to leave after explaining everything, but Yu Qin stopped him.

“How are we going to solve the coprophagia problem?” Yu Qin asked.

Zhang Congwen patted his head, realizing he had overlooked this issue. But it wasn’t a major concern and didn’t require special training. He explained, “The reason Big Ears has coprophagia is likely because, after moving here, he’s unfamiliar with the environment. The presence of stress made him want to mask his scent, which led to this behavior. Now that it doesn’t happen at home anymore, things are improving, so there’s no need to worry too much.”

Yu Qin pressed, “But it still happens when we take him outside for walks. How do we stop that?”

Zhang Congwen replied, “Again, it’s nothing to be overly concerned about. Previously, there was a misunderstanding between you and him, so he couldn’t fully trust you, which made him behave that way during walks. The solution isn’t difficult: assign him a designated spot to relieve himself, and reward him with treats when he uses it successfully. If you’re still worried, just clean up his waste immediately after he’s done. Over time, the coprophagia will improve.”

Having said this, Zhang Congwen thought he could finally leave, but Yu Qin insisted he stay until Xie Caizhe came home and verified the training results firsthand.

It wasn’t that Yu Qin feared Zhang Congwen would run off with their money—after all, she’d witnessed Big Ears’ transformation during the day and trusted Zhang Congwen’s abilities. Her main concern was that, without his supervision, she might make mistakes in the training. She wanted to practice in front of him and only let him go after receiving his approval.

Zhang Congwen couldn’t argue with her reasoning and patiently waited. Fortunately, it was only about an hour until Xie Caizhe finished school, so the wait wasn’t long.

During this time, Zhang Congwen noticed Yu Qin seemed to have mastered the essence of food-based training, using treats to patiently train Big Ears.

Yu Qin first gave Big Ears a treat, then stepped back two paces. Seeing that Big Ears stayed obediently in place, she rewarded him with another treat. She retreated further, increasing the distance, and as long as Big Ears remained still and didn’t follow, she continued to reward him.

She repeated this process, steadily increasing the distance until she entered the bedroom, shut the door, and cut off Big Ears’ line of sight. Still, Big Ears stayed quietly where he was, not moving at all. After ten seconds, Yu Qin emerged and gave him another treat.

Intrigued, Zhang Congwen asked, “You actually know how to do patience training?”

Yu Qin, a bit embarrassed, explained, “Because of Big Ears’ issues, I’ve watched a lot of dog training videos. But I never found a case similar to his, so I never knew where to start. Thanks to you, you solved his worst biting problem, so now I can follow the methods from those videos and try these training techniques.”

Zhang Congwen hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise from his training. It was clear Yu Qin’s family were good owners, and Big Ears would surely thrive under their care.

Knock, knock, knock!

The door finally sounded—Xie Caizhe and the others were home from school.

As soon as the door opened, Zhang Congwen saw Xie Caizhe winking furiously at him. Afraid of being misunderstood, Zhang Congwen quickly turned away and ignored him.

With a stranger in the house, the French Bulldog trotted behind Xie Caizhe and began sniffing at his feet.

This time, without needing a prompt from Zhang Congwen, Yu Qin inserted her foot between the dog and Xie Caizhe, blocking Big Ears. Each time Big Ears tried to nip at Xie Caizhe’s feet, Yu Qin intercepted him.

Soon, the French Bulldog lost interest in Xie Caizhe’s feet and tried to sniff at his backpack. Yu Qin repeated her method, making Big Ears give up on that idea as well.

Once Yu Qin led Xie Caizhe to the sofa, Big Ears merely followed behind, no longer displaying any inappropriate behavior.

Xie Caizhe seemed unfazed by the French Bulldog’s transformation, but Lin Xiaoru was so astonished her mouth formed a perfect “O.” She even wondered if their dog had been secretly swapped for an identical but better-behaved one.

Xie Caizhe, full of pride, said to Lin Xiaoru, “See? I told you not to worry. Brother Zhang is amazing. Do you believe me now?”

Lin Xiaoru nodded, looking at Zhang Congwen with admiration. If she weren’t so shy, she would probably examine him closely out of curiosity to see what kind of magician could train their unruly dog in just one day.

But Zhang Congwen didn’t let Xie Caizhe idle; he immediately said, “Caizhe, walk around the living room.”

Obediently, Xie Caizhe began walking, and seeing that the French Bulldog didn’t react at all, he started jogging around the living room.

Prompted by Xie Caizhe’s movements, the French Bulldog tried several times to rush over and bite his heels, but Yu Qin always stopped him in time. Even Lin Xiaoru joined in, copying her mother’s actions to block the dog.

After being stopped several times, the French Bulldog finally calmed down and sat quietly, watching Xie Caizhe dash around the house.

When they left Yu Qin’s home, Xie Caizhe looked at Zhang Congwen with admiration and said, “For a moment you’re a brother, for a lifetime you’re a brother. Brother Zhang, did you see how Lin Xiaoru’s eyes changed after she got home? All thanks to you.”

Zhang Congwen chuckled, “Whatever your relationship with Lin Xiaoru is, it’s none of my business. But don’t mess around—you’re both still students, still young.”

Xie Caizhe patted his chest, “Don’t worry, Brother Zhang, I won’t do anything inappropriate. If my dad found out, he’d break my legs.”

Hearing this promise, Zhang Congwen could finally relax. He hadn’t spent much time with Xie Caizhe, but the boy always gave him a sense of brotherly warmth, which made Zhang Congwen offer him a few extra words.

“Now that Xiaoru’s problem is solved, when are you going to take me to help your friend’s family?” Zhang Congwen asked.

“Oh, him? No rush,” Xie Caizhe replied.

“That’s a bit of putting friends after girls, isn’t it? Looks like I should keep my distance, or else you might sell me out for a pretty girl someday,” Zhang Congwen joked.

“Don’t! Let’s go now, okay?”

“You little rascal, are you trying to wear me out?” Zhang Congwen tapped Xie Caizhe lightly on the head.