Countdown to Awakening

Not only can you see the moon clearly at night, but you don't have to worry about plastic bags in the sky during the day. And since only a handful of people in this village have telephones at home—not even cell phones—there's no need to worry about AI taking over and replacing them... Life is very comfortable.

But she still has to think about how to prevent everything from happening in the future. If only she had a system like the protagonists of other time-travel novels...

After thinking for a long time and still unable to come up with any good ideas, she decided to go to bed. She still had a lot of time anyway.

Staying up late can lead to sudden death. She has already died once, so she should cherish her life even more.

It was a dark and windy night, and two sneaky figures were lurking in a corner of the village...

"Have you taken care of it?! Hurry up and bury it, or it'll be troublesome if it's discovered tomorrow morning..." A male voice kept urging the other person. The other person was also impatient: "I know, I know. It's almost done. If it weren't for the money, who would do such a wicked thing? It's so unlucky! "

The man said again: "Hurry up. What's there to be afraid of this beast? Who asked it to cause trouble in the first place? And the people it provoked were the ones in the village who should not be provoked... and it deserved it!!" After saying that, he spat.

……

The next morning, just as Qi Yuanyuan got up, washed up, and prepared to eat, Qi Rongfeng came in from outside with a serious face, as if he had something urgent to do...

"What's wrong? Rongfeng." Liang Xiaocui put down the bowl and turned to ask.

"Oh no, Wangcai, the boy that Old Li has raised for four years, is missing, and he is asking us to look for him." After he said that, he picked up the bowl and sipped the porridge.

"How is it? Have you found it?" Liang Xiaocui also knew that Old Li's Wangcai was brought back by his son from the city. It was Old Li's most precious thing... How anxious would he be if he lost it?

Qi Rongfeng shook his head. "No, I'm still looking. Old Li hasn't smiled all morning because of this. He's so worried... I haven't even eaten. I can't hold on any longer, so I'll just come back and have some porridge before I go looking again."

Liang Xiaocui also began to worry. "Rongfeng, drink slowly. This dog was bought for Old Li's son Fuhua. How could he lose it?"

Qi Rongfeng agreed. "That's what I'm saying. This is strange. How could Old Li's dog, who was so obedient and never caused any trouble, be lost? He was a very healthy dog, wasn't he? He'd only had it for four years, so it shouldn't have died so early."

Qi Yuanyuan listened without saying anything.

Qi Rongfeng only said, "No one in the village eats dog meat, right?" Liang Xiaocui thought for a while and then said, "No way. I've never heard of it." After saying that, she added a chopstick of pickles to Qi Rongfeng's bowl.

I haven't heard anyone in the surrounding area say they want to buy dog ​​meat.

Qi Yuanyuan thought of the dog dealers she had heard of. No one knew about the existence of dog dealers in public, but what about in private?

So she also put down the bowl and said, "Dad, let me go with you to look for it."

Liang Xiaocui was stunned. "Yuanyuan, stop messing around. Just let your dad go. You just came back from the clinic yesterday. You need to get some rest."

"Mom, I'm bored staying at home all the time, so I'll just go out and get some exercise. It's good for me. I can't stay at home every day. By the way, I can go play with Pan Di." She said with a smile.

Seeing her so happy, Liang Xiaocui thought about it and felt relieved. Then she agreed to her request.

After listening to this, Qi Yuanyuan quickly finished her porridge.

-

Sun Pandi, who had just finished washing clothes by the river, picked up the clothes and ran home. When she got home, she started hanging the clothes to dry.

Nothing really happened last night. That was what she was most thankful for.

Just as the clothes were hanging halfway, Sun Pandi caught a glimpse of a figure standing at the door. She turned around and looked. "Yuanyuan?!"

Sun Panddi shouted excitedly and smiled at Qi Yuanyuan.

"Panda."

Although Qi Yuanyuan found the name a bit awkward, she suggested, "Your name doesn't sound nice. I'll call you Panpan from now on."

"Yeah, sure. Yuanyuan, do you want to talk to me about something?" Sun Pandi seemed to speed up the process of hanging the clothes. It must be said that Yuanyuan and Panpan really sounded like a pair of sisters.

"My dad said Wangcai was lost, and I wanted to go look for him together. I thought you were home too, so I called you along."

"Ah? Wangcai is lost? Then wait for me for a moment, I will finish drying it soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Pandi sped up the speed of hanging the clothes. She didn't put the basin away until all the clothes were hung out.

Qi Yuanyuan looked at Sun Pandi puzzledly.

"What's wrong?" Sun Pandi felt a little uncomfortable. Qi Yuanyuan asked as they walked, "It's almost the end of July, why are you still wearing long sleeves?"

Sun Pandi was stunned at first, then laughed awkwardly and said, "I, I'm not in good health and I'm afraid of getting tanned, so I don't want to wear short sleeves. Let's talk about Wangcai first. Doesn't Wangcai rarely go out? How could he be lost?"

Wangcai is a common yellow farm dog in the village. He's adorable and rarely leaves the house. It's said that Eunuch Li's son brought him back from working in the city, just to keep Eunuch Li company. Now that Wangcai is missing, Eunuch Li must be terribly worried.

"That's right, my dad also said that, how could a dog get lost for no reason? Unless..." Qi Yuanyuan paused when she said this.

Sun Pandi asked curiously, "Unless what?"

"Unless someone steals the dog."

Sun Pandi thought about it, then shook her head. "That shouldn't be possible. I've never heard of anyone stealing a dog. Never."

Qi Yuanyuan didn't think so.

In that world, technology is advanced and there are all kinds of delicious food, but there are still people who steal dogs. How much more so in this era where material conditions are not abundant?

"Just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I heard that stolen dogs are either sold or eaten..."

Sun Pandi seemed a little shocked after hearing this. I've never heard of this before. Even during Chinese New Year, no one kills dogs...

Besides, Wangcai is so well-behaved and doesn’t run around, so how could he be stolen?

"Where should we look for it?" Sun Pandi asked.

"That's right, why not ask Zheng Haifeng to come along?" Qi Yuanyuan said. Then the two of them rushed to Zheng Haifeng's house.

They went to places where Wangcai might go and also looked for him among the dogs, but still to no avail.

"Is it possible that Wangcai is no longer with us? I heard from my mother that dogs always go out when they are about to die and will never die at home," said Zheng Haifeng.

Sun Pandi was the first to retort, "Pfft! How many years have we had Wangcai? And he never goes out. Eunuch Li takes such good care of him, how could he be gone? Don't talk nonsense."

Qi Yuanyuan looked at the two of them and couldn't help but smile. I didn't expect to see a couple like this at this time...

"Okay, okay, okay, but we've been looking for it for so long and still can't find it... I'm worried too." Zheng Haifeng was still not convinced.

"You two stop arguing. Panpan, what Zheng Haifeng said actually makes sense..." Qi Yuanyuan said.

At this moment, they ran into a white dog head-on.

The dog was trembling slightly, its eyes half-closed. Its mouth seemed to be twitching. The three of them looked at each other, unsure of what was going on.

Sun Pandi bent down and took a closer look. "This dog looks like Mr. Xue's dog, Xiaobai, from the east end of the village. Why did it end up here?"

I saw Xiaobai staggering as he walked.

The next moment, white foam suddenly spit out of the dog's mouth. Then, it shook its head vigorously. The foam fell on its white fur. It was so thick that it was impossible to tell whether it was dog hair or white foam...

"Woo woo..." Xiaobai looked up and called to the three people.

After seeing this, several people were almost shocked at the same time.

Xiaobai...what's wrong?

"Is it... is it poisoned?!" Sun Pandi's face was filled with fear, and she even backed away. Fortunately, the unknown white foam didn't hit her.

Zheng Haifeng also bent down to take a look.

Xiaobai's body was shaking even more violently, and the foam in his mouth was increasing.

Xiaobai also kept looking up at the three of them, with intermittent humming sounds coming from his mouth.

"Let's take Xiaobai to the clinic." Qi Yuanyuan searched her mind. There was no pet hospital in this village. She could only see if there was a doctor at the clinic who could treat it...

Upon hearing this, Zheng Haifeng squatted down and reached out to hug it.

Unexpectedly, Xiaobai retreated again and again. "Don't be afraid... We won't hurt you." Although Sun Pandi was afraid of its appearance, she pretended not to be afraid.

Xiaobai looked at them again, then turned around and stumbled forward.

After running for a short distance, Xiaobai turned around and looked at them again.

Qi Yuanyuan remembered how many people had said that dogs were very intelligent, just like the dogs in her world, who, even though they were nearly mutated, remained docile and intelligent. Then she suddenly realized, "It seems like it wants us to follow it... Let's go, follow it and see what it has to offer."