Chapter 2 The Next Day

The next morning, Gouzi came over wagging his tail as usual, wanting breakfast. Jia Wenjun, sporting dark circles from a sleepless night, went to get him a sausage with complicated feelings.

It was the weekend. After breakfast, she took the dog to the pet hospital at the entrance of the complex.

Although it was an animal hospital, it also sold pet supplies.

Bai Ma Shan had just arrived at the store. Seeing her come in, he smiled and went over to greet her, "Xiao Jia, you're walking the dog so early."

"Good morning, Brother Bai. This dog is too noisy. I want to buy a dog cage for him." Jia Wenjun had just finished speaking when she felt the leash in her hand tug. She looked down and saw the golden retriever had already pounced on Bai Ma Shan, wagging his tail.

Bai Ma Shan smiled and squatted down to pet the dog's head. "You've raised this dog very well. It was skin and bones before. It's all thanks to you that it's like this now."

"All I know is to feed it. I don't know how to raise it." Jia Wenjun was smiling when she saw the golden retriever actually peeing in the hall.

"I'm sorry, Brother Bai. I'll wipe it up with paper." Jia Wenjun looked at the puddle of yellow liquid behind the golden retriever and embarrassedly went to pinch the golden retriever's ear.

"It's okay. I have a disinfecting mop here. One swipe will do it." Bai Ma Shan was used to animal excrement and didn't care at all. He picked up the mop and started mopping.

Jia Wenjun couldn't help and felt like she was causing trouble, so she chose a slightly more expensive large dog cage.

The cage was too big to carry. Bai Ma Shan said he would have a male clerk deliver it to her house later.

Wenjun didn't like to trouble people, and combined with the shadow of what happened last night, she didn't want a strange man coming to her door. Seeing that the cage wasn't too big after being folded up, she said that she could carry it herself and would take it away later.

Remembering what happened last night, she asked, "Brother Bai, you know a lot about animals. I want to ask, what's the deal with this dog holding a key and scratching at the door?"

Bai Ma Shan heard such a strange thing for the first time. "Is there something outside the door attracting it?"

"... I guess so. It seemed like someone was lingering outside my door last night."

Bai Ma Shan was stunned. "Who is it? Do you know them?"

Jia Wenjun shook her head. "I didn't see the other person's face."

Bai Ma Shan paused. "It's true that you need to be careful living alone as a young woman. Raising a dog can give you a warning, which is good. If this happens again in the future, you can call me directly. I live across the hall, so it's convenient to come over and help."

A close neighbor is better than a distant relative. His words did give Wenjun a lot of comfort.

After thanking him gratefully, she continued to ask, "I can understand the scratching at the door, but why is it holding the key in its mouth?"

Bai Ma Shan thought for a while. "Maybe its previous owner liked to play with it like that. It naturally puts the key in its mouth when it sees it. Coincidentally, someone was outside the door at the time, so it scratched at the door with the key in its mouth."

Jia Wenjun also thought of this reason when she reviewed the whole thing last night, but she thought it was ridiculous at the time. But now that the director of the animal hospital said it, she found it believable.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries. More and more customers came, so Jia Wenjun took the dog cage and led the dog home.

She lived on the third floor. Coming out of the elevator, Wenjun couldn't help but feel nervous. She used to not be afraid when she came back from working overtime late at night, but after what happened last night, thinking that the man stood in this position outside her door yesterday, she felt like there were eyes staring at her in broad daylight. The hand holding the key was shaking a little.

Fortunately, the electrician had already come to fix the porch light in the morning. The sensor was also good. The elevator door opened with a "ding", which made the entire stairwell bright.

She quickly opened the door and entered the house. She habitually locked the door and then set up the dog cage, trying to get the golden retriever into the cage.

She thought it would take some effort to get it to go in, but she didn't expect the dog to like it quite a bit. It jumped right in.

Seeing Da Huang being so well-behaved, Jia Wenjun felt relieved.

She was just about to rest for a while and have a cup of tea when she received a WeChat message.

She opened it and found that it was sent by Bai Ma Shan. The previous chat history between Wenjun and him was all the property fee information and community event information she sent him. This was the first time he had proactively sent her a message, saying that he had his son put a pair of his old shoes outside her door and told her not to mind.

Wenjun didn't expect Bai Ma Shan to be so considerate. Knowing that she had encountered trouble last night, he put some men's things outside to scare away those with ill intentions.

Wenjun felt a warmth in her heart. This should be the most heartwarming little thing in these chaotic days.

After replying to Bai Ma Shan with thanks, she sighed, lamenting that good men are not cherished and good women are not valued.

It stands to reason that Bai Ma Shan has a good personal image. He exercises regularly and is self-disciplined, so he looks like he's in his early thirties even though he's over forty. He has an upright figure and doesn't have the potbelly of an ordinary middle-aged man. Moreover, he is kind and polite. He also opened a pet hospital that is not small in scale but makes a lot of money. Many older unmarried women, divorced women, and even young unmarried girls in the complex have inquired about her neighbor across the hall.

Jia Wenjun only heard from her colleagues that Bai Ma Shan's wife wanted to go abroad when his son was only five or six years old, but he didn't want to go, so they divorced. In order not to make his son feel wronged, he has not remarried for so many years. He is both a father and a mother, which is considered a rare good father.

Jia Wenjun was thinking about these miscellaneous things. Not long after she put down her phone, the security guard who was on duty last night called Jia Wenjun and said that they had checked the surveillance and there were no suspicious people entering or leaving, asking her if she had seen it wrong.

Jia Wenjun was sure that she had not seen it wrong, but she had no evidence. The lights outside were broken at the time, and she couldn't open the door and go out to take pictures for evidence.

After thanking the other party, Jia Wenjun made a tasteless lunch and felt that it was time to install a surveillance camera at her door.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed. The jumping-off-the-building incident and the explosion disturbance in the complex gradually subsided.

Anna was anxious to change her luck, so she found the property management and asked them to put sea fishing on the agenda as soon as possible. They were going to set off next weekend.

The financial backer had spoken, so the property management had no reason not to respond. The owners had been complaining a lot recently, so they wanted to use something new to dilute the negative energy in the group.

Unsurprisingly, the property fees were collected exceptionally smoothly because of the lottery.

Jia Wenjun paid the next year's property fee. There was no lottery. Gong Dalong told her not to be special and to draw one quickly.

"Wenjun, draw quickly. If you win, we can help each other take pictures on the yacht." Lili was afraid that others wouldn't know that she could also get on the boat, so she took the opportunity to show off to Jia Wenjun.

Jia Wenjun wasn't interested in this and naturally ignored her showing off. But seeing everyone cheering, she felt annoyed, so she casually took one from the cardboard box. Unexpectedly, she actually won a spot.

"Oh my god, you're so lucky. The last spot was so easily won by you." A group of colleagues exclaimed. Lili, who had been cheering the loudest, lost her voice.

Jia Wenjun smiled faintly and said, "Manager Gong, I have a dog to take care of at home, so I don't want to go. I'll give this spot up and let other owners draw."

She didn't want to go anywhere where Zhao Di would be.

Besides, she wasn't stupid. Gong Dalong didn't work, and Lili was just a big mouth. All the work would be pushed to her. If she didn't do it well, it would all be her fault and problem. She had better things to do than to do this hard labor.

"Don't. If you win, you should go. Isn't it just a dog? Bring it on board with you." Anna hadn't even reached the office yet, but her voice could already be heard by everyone.

Everyone turned their heads and smiled to greet the financial backer.

Among these people, Anna valued Jia Wenjun the most for her efficiency and thoughtfulness. If Jia Wenjun didn't go, relying on Gong Dalong and that Lili to organize it, they definitely wouldn't be able to do anything well.

Anna was still thinking about changing her luck this time and didn't want anything to go wrong. So she still had to find a reliable and capable person to get on the boat.

She said to Jia Wenjun half-jokingly and half-seriously, "You must come. If you don't give me face, don't blame me for not cooperating with the property management activities in the future."

Anna was an owner in Jia Wenjun's jurisdiction. If she didn't cooperate, it wouldn't be just ignoring her but going against her. Wenjun knew that Anna's temper would definitely do it. She didn't want to cause trouble for her future work, so of course she couldn't offend such a financial backer.

She was mmp in her heart, but she still smiled and said, "Since Sister Anna is opening the back door for me like this, then I'll bring my Da Huang on board this weekend."

Gong Dalong seized the opportunity and asked Lili to show Anna the list of owners who had won the sea fishing trip.

Anna browsed through it. Gong Dalong was afraid that she wouldn't recognize them, so he quickly introduced, "In addition to the three of us property management staff, there's also Mr. Bai Ma Shan, who runs the pet hospital, the young boss Lu Maowang who sells water cards in the complex, and Sun Jiaojiao, the owner of the private kitchen restaurant outside the complex. You know them all. There's also Zhao Di, who lives in the building opposite you. She's a well-known internet celebrity. This is Grandpa Wang, who just came to live here this summer. He's seventy years old and in good health, and he just likes to fish. This is Aunt Lin, who just retired from Building 19. She used to work at the Municipal Science and Technology Museum and is always dancing in the complex. Finally, there's the old Hu couple who moved back from Building 3 after their land was expropriated. They have two houses and won the spot twice. You can't beat that luck."

Anna smiled. "Old Hu's wife found me before and said that they have an eight-year-old son. They were worried about leaving the child at home alone if they all went on the boat, and asked if they could bring their child. I agreed. The more the merrier."

"Sister Anna, you're so beautiful and kind-hearted. But isn't the yacht limited to 12 people? Now there's an extra dog and a child. Is that okay?" Gong Dalong asked cautiously, after all, safety is the priority at sea.

"The boat is mine. I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"

"Hahaha, that's true. If there's no problem, then we'll send out this list." Gong Dalong asked obsequiously.

"Okay, send it." Anna made the decision.

Zhao Di had just finished her live broadcast and saw the list of owners for the weekend sea fishing trip in the owner group. When she saw Jia Wenjun's name, she snorted coldly, "Getting on the boat through the back door, huh? I'll see how I deal with you then."