The Mystic Nine (9) Old Dog Wu

It’s not known where the feeling started, but it runs very deep. Old Dog Wu and Huo Xiangu’s prior involvement.

“Not going to smoke?” Huo Xiangu looked at Old Dog Wu and fiddled with a box of foreign cigarettes in her hand.

“No, I’m too busy.” Old Dog Wu cut the Crucian carp in his hand with a kitchen knife, dug out the fishy black innards, threw them into a porcelain jar on the side, and then scraped the scales off. His movements were very skilled.

Huo Xiangu lit a cigarette and took a gentle puff.

“A woman smoking a lot of cigarettes, aren’t you afraid you won’t get married?” Old Dog Wu laughed.

“Isn’t there still you?” Huo Xiangu asked lightly.

Old Dog Wu’s hands paused and then continued slicing the scales off the carp, “I don’t like women who smoke, either.”

Huo Xiangu blew the cigarette smoke in his direction before putting it out in a nearby flowerpot and straightening her hair, “What, are you just going to ignore what happened?”

Old Dog Wu’s knife stopped again. After a short pause, he said, “You have no sense of shame. You slept on the bed, and I slept on the threshold. I didn’t touch a hair on you. What do you mean I’m ignoring what happened?”

“Who’s to say if you touched me that night or not. I drank so much. You had plenty of opportunities to enter the palace.”

“Can you stop acting like a brothel owner?” Old Dog Wu washed the fish, stuffed it into the ham, and then fried it in the pan. The aroma immediately started to spread through the air. “Let me tell you, I’ve seen a lot of unruly girls, so I’m least afraid of girls like you.”

Huo Xiangu stood up and walked behind him to where a big German Shepherd was lying on the chopping board, salivating. She stroked the dog’s cramped back and said, “Ok, then you can wait and see if you like girls like me.”

Old Dog Wu poured water into the pot, closed the lid, and wiped his hands with an apron. He then looked back at her and said, “You should go. I’m going to give this dog an enema. It’s disgusting, so you’d better avoid it.”

“Isn’t this fish soup for me?” Huo Xiangu asked.

“This damned dog must have eaten at Xie Jiu’s house again. Xie Jiu’s cook recently returned to his hometown. Xie Jiu has a delicate palate, so he doesn’t eat out. He cooks noodles by himself and eats very little. He must’ve given the rest to this dog. I have to make it spit it out; otherwise, it won’t last for two days.”

“Why did your dog go to Xie Jiu’s house?”

“I lent him out to smell the soil. Xie Jiu seems to be writing a book. Something like ‘Notes on Xie Study Room’.” Old Dog Wu made an incomprehensible gesture. “He’s a promising scholar, but I’m illiterate, so all I can do is help with the rough work.”

Huo Xiangu smelled the fragrant soup. “Who would have thought Xie Jiu’s noodles are enough to kill a dog? Your craftsmanship is good, and rough work is still work. You don’t have to belittle yourself.”

“Generally, no matter how unpalatable the noodles are, dogs won’t get sick like this. And dogs eat shit. That means Xie Jiu’s cooking must be better than shit. But every time I send a dog to Xie Jiu’s house, it always eats something and has problems. I think there must be something in his noodles.” Old Dog Wu said. “I hope I haven’t guessed right. Although it can relieve his headaches, it’s very bad for people.”

Huo Xiangu thought about it, and immediately understood, “He’s such a wise man, so his head must always hurt. It’s normal to take some medicine.”

Huo Xiangu finally left right before Old Dog Wu was going to give the dog an enema. He breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the cigarette she had put out in the flowerpot, lit it with a piece of charcoal from the fire, and took two puffs before saying, “It turns out she wasn’t asleep that night. Fortunately, I only went over and stared at her for a long time. If I had really done something, I’d be doomed.”

He wiped his cold sweat and patted the big black dog. It jumped off the chopping board as if it were perfectly fine.

Old Dog Wu hugged its neck and kissed it a few times, “Tang Seng, it’s a good thing I prepared in advance and trained you to pretend to be dying. Otherwise, she’d still be here harassing me.”

The dog licked him a few times and then looked at the steaming fish soup. Old Dog Wu shook his head, “No way.”

Once he pushed the door open and saw that Huo Xiangu had really left, he picked up the fish soup and put it in a big bowl. He then cut up some chopped green onions, covered it with a warm blanket, lifted the basket up, and walked to the teahouse. There, a bolder and more vigorous young girl was waiting for him.

After taking a few steps, the black dog found that he really wasn’t getting any soup, so he had to go back and squat down in the corner of the yard. After crouching down for a few minutes, he suddenly heard a noise in the tree. When he looked up, he saw the girl who had just left sitting in the tree, staring blankly in the direction Old Dog Wu had gone with her face full of tears.

<The Mystic Nine (8) Er Yuehong’s Problem><Table of Contents><The Mystic Nine (10) New Sesame Seeds>

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Why was Xie Jiuye putting morphine in his noodles? And then giving them to Old Wu’s dogs? (￣□￣) And I feel a little bad for Granny Huo now. The Wu family is full of players