CH 57.3

Talking about the dog was obviously making Chen Shuo very angry. "The dog definitely wasn't a stray. I saw a tag around its neck, tied with a red bow. It looked well-groomed as well. Anyone could tell it's a pampered pooch. It's not a fancy breed, it looked like some sort of golden retriever mix."

Since Ning Wan was already aware that he had been hit by a dog, Chen Shuo felt like he had to get some sort of justice. "It's too bad I didn't get a photo of it, so there's no proof. We'll have to determine tort liability by looking for its owner somewhere in the high-rises."

If a pet was at fault, its owner had failed to fulfill their management duty, so they would be held liable for any loss. For instance, this dog hadn't been properly on a leash, and it had wandered about and jumped off an upper floor and hurt someone. Whether from the perspective of the pet being at fault or for causing an object to fall from a high altitude, the dog owner was liable.

"Don't worry, a resident on the opposite floor took the video, and if you enlarge it, you can make out the appearance of the dog. You take good care of yourself. Ning Wan and I will investigate and set things right on your behalf."

Although Fu Zheng's words sounded good, they held no flavour for Chen Shuo. Originally, they should have taken cases in turn and he should have been next up to work with Ning Wan. But now he had become the "case", and all he could do was lie in bed, watching Fu Zheng and Ning Wan work together as a pair. Fu Zheng was talking about setting things right on his behalf, so why was it so grating on the ear, as if he was letting Chen Shuo pass away without regret?

Ning Wan was only under the impression that Chen Shuo was hiding in order to save face. She wasn't aware of all the little inner twists and turns in his heart. When she had roughly hashed out speaking to Chen Shuo with Fu Zheng earlier, they had agreed that they would split up - Fu Zheng would go to speak to Chen Shuo, and Ning Wan would find the resident who had taken the video.

"I got the original video and got a few clear colour shots of the dog. It does indeed have the bow and tag Chen Shuo mentioned. Unfortunately, due to the angle and distance you can't make out what's on the tag, but it's a mixed breed that looks quite distinctive and ought to be easy to recognize. There aren't too many dog owners in the high-rise, so why don't we go to the buildings and ask whose dog this is?"

Fu Zheng nodded. "Sounds good."

It was already rare enough for a dog to fall from the sky and injure a pedestrian, not to mention that a video had gone viral on Weibo. With so many old aunties in the community, Chen Shuo's story would be widespread soon enough. If by then the dog owner had managed to hide or get rid of the dog and refused to admit anything, it wouldn't bode well.

"Auntie, have you seen this dog before? Do you know which neighbor in your building it might belong to?"

"Hey kid, have you seen this dog before?"

……

Ning Wan and Fu Zheng split up to knock on the doors of the building residents. But after asking everyone they could, all the answers they received were consistent--

"No, no one in our building has such a big dog. On the 16th floor, there's a girl with a pretty fierce poodle."

"I've never seen it."

"I don't care about dogs. My family doesn't have one, and I'm allergic to them."

……

Since going out into the field had proven useless, Ning Wan had found Director Ji to get the camera surveillance footage of the two buildings. If anyone had a dog, it would naturally appear in the elevator during its daily walk.

But what a pity...

"There are four elevators in the two buildings, but during a renovation, one elevator's camera was accidentally damaged and hasn't been repaired. The recordings on the other three elevator cameras are retained for two weeks, and both the police and I have already checked them. There isn't a dog inside."

Director Ji paused before continuing. "But even though the last elevator's footage was lost, you both asked around the building and none of the residents knew anything about the dog. Maybe it's not from this building? After all the building also has stairs in addition to the elevator. Maybe it went up the stair?"

Ning Wan hesitated, but that Director Ji's words made sense. "Then I will print out some colour photos, and we'll post them around the community to see if anyone has any clue!"

She was as good as her word and immediately got the photos printed out. Then the three of them, Ning Wan, Fu Zheng, and Director Ji, began posting them around the community.

They had worn themselves down searching before, and now unexpectedly the answer fell into their laps. As Ning Wan was putting up photos alongside Fu Zheng on the east side of Yuelan Community, they ran into an acquaintance.

"Xiao Ning, what are you up to?" Poking her nose over Ning Wan's shoulder was none other than Auntie Xiao.

The Auntie Xiao before her was just as elegant as she had always been1. She was truly a case of 'no longer in the Jianghu, yet the Jianghu is still full of her legends'2. Last Ning Wan had heard from Director Ji, Auntie Xiao had made a new boyfriend, a handsome older widower who had just moved to the community. Thanks to that, several of her former suitors had gotten into a fight over jealousy and been carted off to the police station...

When the newcomers laugh, the old ones cry3. Auntie Xiao, now newly-boyfriended, was a completely different woman. Before, every time she saw Ning Wan, she would inquire about Fu Zheng, but now it seemed as though she had forgotten who he was. She didn't even look at him as he stood there next to Ning Wan.

But even though she wasn't concerned about Fu Zheng, but was concerned about the dog. "Xiao Ning, what's wrong with this dog? Did something happen? Isn't this Tao Xing's dog? I just saw her walking it this morning, did it get lost?"

Ning Wan's eyes lit up to hear this. "Sister Xiao, do you know this dog?"

She made a quick decision and handed over a photo. "Look carefully. Is it this dog?"

Xiao Mei nodded. "Yes, I see it every day during my morning walk. Tao Xing loves this dog. She pampers it more than anything else and treats it like her own child. But I did heard her say that it got lost once a few days ago before running home by itself. Did it get lost again?"

Lost? That's right! Hadn't the dog gotten lost and run upstairs, then fall off and hit Chen Shuo?

"Where does this TaoXing live? In our Yuelan community? Is she in a high-rise building?"

"Yes, she's at Number 102, Building 10."

If you lived on the first floor, it was easy for a dog to run away if you weren't careful. Tao Xing's Building 10 wasn't one of the two buildings they suspected the dog to have fallen from. If her dog had accidentally gotten lost and eventually run into an accident, it was no wonder that the residents in those two buildings had never seen it before.

Ning Wan and Fu Zheng met each other's eyes in tacit understanding. Then vastly cheered up, Ning Wan asked Auntie Xiao for Tao Xing's address and contact information in preparation for a surprise visit.

"Does she live alone?"

Auntie Xiao pursed her lips at Ning Wan's casual question. "I heard that she was married, but I've never seen her husband. She lives alone with the dog, and she seriously pampers it. She sleeps in the smaller room by herself and the dog gets the south-facing bedroom. She's quite frugal, but whatever the dog gets - kennel, playroom, toilet - it's the most expensive one."

She checked the time. "I have to go, my boyfriend and I are going to see a movie, no time to chat. You and Xiao Fu shouldn't dally around wasting your youth, I'll introduce a good man to you both later." She gave them both a charming glance and then turned and left, her gait graceful.

In her heart Ning Wan thought, introduce a man for her, fine, but introducing a good man to Fu Zheng was unnecessary...