Chapter 264: 264 Good Person (fourth watch)

Upon opening the door, there stood a man of impressive presence and tall stature. Song Shiqin offered a polite smile to the middle-aged woman, "Hello, may I ask if you are Mrs. Zhou Ru?"

Although the man in front of her was dressed plainly, his demeanor and speech betrayed an air of nobility. It was clear to any discerning eye that he was no ordinary person.

The aura he exuded was not something an ordinary person could possess.

Zhou Ru, somewhat ill at ease, said, "I am Zhou Ru. May I ask who you are?"

"My surname is Song. I know you’ve adopted many stray dogs, so I wanted to ask if I could come and adopt one."

Song Shiqin had recently conducted a thorough investigation of Chu Jin, as well as researched Master Chu’s background, but had found nothing unusual about either of them.

However, what was strange was that all those who had contact with Master Chu spoke highly of her, and they firmly believed in her divination.

In fact, in the accounts of many people, Chu Jin was not a swindler to be scorned, but a benevolent person respected by everyone.

Just like the family of three before, who were full of gratitude towards Chu Jin.

Zhou Ru was one of them. According to records, Zhou Ru, because she adopted a large number of stray dogs, fell out with her family and once had suicidal tendencies. However, after consulting Chu Jin for divination, she abandoned the idea of taking her life lightly. Moreover, just a few days ago, she won the first prize in the welfare lottery, amounting to over eighteen million.

Each of these people had their own stories; they didn’t seem like actors brought in on short notice.

Therefore, Song Shiqin wanted to make an on-site investigation to see if these individuals were as documented.

After all, it wasn’t impossible for a senior special agent to forge documents.

Seeing is believing.

He tended to trust what he saw with his own eyes more.

Hearing that Song Shiqin wanted to adopt, Zhou Ru immediately became excited, "Of course, Mr. Song, you are truly a kind person. May I know if you would like to adopt a large breed or a puppy?"

Zhou Ru had been adopting stray dogs for many years and occasionally people would come to adopt some.

However, those individuals were few and there might be only one such request a month.

After all, stray dogs did not have a good breed appearance; they were either purebred Chinese rural dogs or mixed breeds of different varieties.

Nowadays, people preferred noble-bred, branded dogs.

Song Shiqin spoke slowly, "A puppy, please. Could you lead me to see them first?"

"Ah, sure," said the middle-aged woman as she nodded and led Song Shiqin inside, adding, "Perfect timing, Blackie gave birth to a litter a month ago. I’ll take you to see them."

As Song Shiqin walked further inside, he discreetly surveyed the warehouse.

The warehouse had two floors, both housing dogs. As strangers arrived in the yard, the dogs curiously poked their heads out; a few disobedient ones barked twice but were scolded by Zhou Ru into silence and wagged their tails towards her.

It was evident that Zhou Ru had indeed spent a long time with these stray dogs.

If paper documents could be falsified, these interactions couldn’t be faked at all.

Zhou Ru was indeed an altruistic do-gooder seeking no reward.

Although the air was thick with the odd smell of dog feces and urine, the environment was tidy, not dirty and disordered. Even inside the kennels, it was very clean.

About 2-3 dogs were confined in each kennel.

Each dog’s coat shone brightly, they were very energetic, and upon seeing Zhou Ru, they jumped excitedly.

It seemed, then, the information that Zhou Ru had exhausted her family fortune on stray dogs was also true.

If all the people who had contact with Master Chu were normal individuals, then by what means did she gain their trust?

This was becoming quite perplexing.

Turning a corner, Zhou Ru stopped in front of a kennel, and standing in front of a half-person-high iron gate, she introduced to Song Shiqin, "Mr. Song, this is Blackie. She gave birth to six puppies, but sadly one died during delivery, and two were adopted a few days ago. There are three left, please come and see which one you’d like."

At the sound of Zhou Ru’s voice, two furry paws and a shiny black, though simple and adorable, dog head immediately appeared above the gate.

"Woof!" Blackie barked at Zhou Ru.

Zhou Ru immediately reached out to pet Blackie on the head, a look of tenderness almost spilling from her eyes.

Seeing Song Shiqin standing at a distance, Zhou Ru thought he might be afraid of dogs, so she said, "Mr. Song, you don’t have to worry, Blackie is gentle and won’t bite without reason."

With that, she patted Blackie on the head, "Be good, go down now, don’t bump into the honorable guest."

Song Shiqin walked up to the kennel and stopped; unlike the others he had seen, this was a separate dog house, with a large black dog and several chubby puppies inside.

It was evident that the owner was a meticulous and warm person.

"Ms. Zhou must have been adopting stray dogs for many years, haven’t you?" Song Shiqin casually remarked.

"Yes, it’s been three years now," Zhou Ru said, her face filling with mixed emotions as she looked back on her dog-raising journey over the past few years.

During these years, she had experienced so much.

She had tasted all the vicissitudes of life, the good and the bad.

Fortunately, things had finally turned around for the better.

Song Shiqin subtly observed the middle-aged woman’s expression, then pointed to one of the three little puppies and said, "That one."

Zhou Ru smiled and nodded, "Alright, Mr. Song, I’ll catch it for you right now."

As she said this, she pushed open the iron gate and walked into the kennel.

Song Shiqin nodded and then asked, "I guess, from Ms. Zhou’s accent, that you are a local of Capital City, right?"

Zhou Ru, carrying the plump little puppy, said with a light smile, "I’m not a local from Capital City, I come from Hangzhou, but I’ve been living in Capital City for over twenty years now, so it’s like my second hometown."

Song Shiqin nodded again, "Since you’ve been in Capital City for so many years, you must be quite familiar with it, right?"

"Yes, I’m more familiar with Capital City than with Hangzhou," Zhou Ru replied with a smile, carrying the puppy outside.

According to the information Song Shiqin had gathered, Zhou Ru indeed moved from Hangzhou 23 years ago.

Since she wasn’t lying, Song Shiqin continued, "In that case, may I inquire about someone with you?"

"Sure, let’s go talk inside the house. I’ll find something to put this one in," Zhou Ru said, gently patting the puppy in her arms, her smile full of gentleness.

Song Shiqin gave a slight nod, "Alright," and turned to follow Zhou Ru.

Once inside the house, Zhou Ru found a cardboard box to put the puppy in.

Then she took a clean glass and poured Song Shiqin a cup of hot water, "Please have a seat, Mr. Song, and have some water first."

"Thank you," Song Shiqin accepted the glass and expressed his gratitude politely.

The furniture in the house was very simple, a table, four chairs, and a few large bags of dog food piled in the corner of the wall.

It was very clean, and judging by the household items, one could not tell that the owner had recently won a multimillion-dollar lottery.

Zhou Ru pulled out a chair and sat opposite Song Shiqin, then asked, "May I know who Mr. Song is seeking information about?"

Song Shiqin took out his phone from his pocket, quickly found a photo, and placed it in front of Zhou Ru, speaking calmly, "Ms. Zhou, do you recognize this person?"

On the phone screen was a picture of a young girl, youthful and vibrant, with a flower-like smile. Zhou Ru recognized her at once and eagerly said, "I do, of course, I do. Isn’t this Master Chu? Mr. Song, are you seeking Master Chu for some matter?"

When mentioning Master Chu, Zhou Ru’s tone was filled with respect, as if she was not talking about a mere teenager but an elder worthy of veneration.

"Master Chu?" Song Shiqin’s eyes narrowed slightly, "So, Ms. Zhou is quite familiar with the person in the photo?"

"Not exactly familiar; it was just a few days ago that I received some advice and kindness from Master Chu. Master Chu is a very good person; if it weren’t for her..."

At this point, Zhou Ru abruptly stopped, quickly shifting the subject, "Mr. Song, if you are looking for Master Chu, I can take you to her, and I also want to thank her in person."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read