Chapter 7: Hit on the Head

When Xiao Man first heard the commotion, she hesitated for a moment, but then she detected the ferocity in the dog’s bark.

The piercing cries of a woman’s fear and terror were giving her a headache.

She wasn’t particularly altruistic, but knowing someone was in danger, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Han Shuangshuang’s leash wasn’t tightly held, and as Xiao Man rushed out, it only tightened briefly before loosening again.

As she got closer, the sounds became clearer.

The woman was screaming in terror, 

“Help! Help me! Ah!”

Under the streetlight, a person and a dog were entangled. 

A fairly large dog had latched onto the woman’s leg, growling menacingly. 

The woman was desperately hitting the dog’s head, but it refused to let go.

Xiao Man charged quickly, but since Han Shuangshuang always put a muzzle on her when they went out for walks, she couldn’t bite the dog to make it release its grip out of pain.

Helpless, Xiao Man could only raise her paw and swiped at the dog’s face.

Her claws scratched the tender nose of the mixed-breed dog, causing it to whimper, but it still didn’t let go.

Xiao Man struck its nose and eyes several more times, growling threateningly herself.

Although the stray dog Xiao Man inhabited was emaciated from long-term homelessness, the good food and care she’d received over the past few days had improved her physical condition, allowing her to exert considerable strength.

Just as the other dog was forced to release its grip, Xiao Man suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, as if she’d been hit with a club… 

Wait, no she actually had been hit!

The biting dog whimpered and backed away after letting go, while the bitten girl, still terrified, scrambled backward. 

Xiao Man swayed dizzily a few times, hearing Han Shuangshuang’s panicked voice, 

“Stop! Stop!”

Han Shuangshuang was grateful she’d worn her running shoes today. 

Although she was late, she wasn’t too late.

From a distance, she saw a well-meaning bystander hit Xiao Bai (Xiao Man’s dog form) on the head with a stick. 

Her heart ached, and she shouted, 

“You’re trying to help, but look closely! My Xiao Bai is wearing a muzzle-how could she bite anyone? She’s trying to save the girl! Why did you hit her instead of the actual aggressive dog?”

Han Shuangshuang watched as Xiao Bai staggered a few steps before collapsing, her eyes red with worry.

Although she’d only known Xiao Bai for a couple of days, and though the dog often gave her side-eyes, Xiao Bai was so intelligent she could understand her words! 

It broke Han Shuangshuang’s heart to see her trying to help only to be struck down.

She pushed the well-meaning man aside and scooped Xiao Bai into her arms. 

Xiao Bai, originally a stray, was far from the standard weight of a Husky of her size. 

She’d only just started to gain some weight over the past couple of days, only to suffer such a heavy blow.

Xiao Man struggled to lift her head from Han Shuangshuang’s embrace and barked at the aggressive dog in the distance, trying to scare it away. 

This girl, Han Shuangshuang, was too close to the vicious dog!

But Xiao Man couldn’t speak to warn her, so she could only threaten the dog instead.

The man Han Shuangshuang had stopped now saw that the dog in her arms was indeed securely muzzled and couldn’t possibly bite anyone. 

He felt a pang of guilt, but the aggressive dog was still growling, so he had to focus on it first.

Xiao Man managed to free a paw and gently patted Han Shuangshuang’s cheek with her soft pad.

Han Shuangshuang looked up at her, confused, her eyes still red.

Xiao Man pointed at the bitten girl, who was still trembling in fear.

Han Shuangshuang understood-saving the girl was the priority. 

She quickly stood up with Xiao Bai in her arms, ready to approach, but felt the dog struggle.

She looked at Xiao Man, puzzled.

Xiao Man rolled her eyes internally. 

The girl had just been bitten by a dog-bringing another dog over, even if it wasn’t the same one, wouldn’t be appropriate!

She struggled so much that Han Shuangshuang had to put her down.

Xiao Man sat on the ground, making it clear she wasn’t going over.

Han Shuangshuang finally seemed to get it and hurried to the girl’s side, helping her carefully move away from the dog before calling 120 and 110. 

The wound on the girl’s leg looked horrifying, and Han Shuangshuang didn’t dare touch it, so she called for an ambulance.

The girl, her face streaked with tears, clung to Han Shuangshuang as if she were a lifeline. 

With trembling hands, she pulled out her phone and fumbled to unlock it.

After a while, she managed to make a call, sobbing, 

“Baby, I’ve been bitten by a dog. Come quick, I’m so scared…”

Whatever the person on the other end said seemed to calm her down, and she appeared much more composed.

Meanwhile, the man with the stick was still facing off against the aggressive dog. 

Two other dog walkers who’d heard the commotion arrived but hesitated to intervene when they saw what was happening.

The aggressive dog looked fierce and was quite large-even with a stick, the man’s courage was stretched thin just by standing his ground.

He called out, 

“Can someone call the police?”

Han Shuangshuang quickly replied, 

“Already done!”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. 

Now, they just needed to maintain control of the situation.

A few minutes later, the bitten girl’s boyfriend arrived. 

Since he lived nearby, he got there quickly and helped the girl into the ambulance that had just arrived. 

Before leaving, he left Han Shuangshuang his number in case the police needed to follow up.

Soon after, a police car arrived, and the officers brought tools to capture the dog.

Xiao Man, who had stayed close to Han Shuangshuang after the girl left, quickly picked up her leash and handed it to Han Shuangshuang.

She was a dog with an owner now she couldn’t be mistaken for a stray and taken away!

With the proper tools, capturing the dog became much easier, and everyone else relaxed.

The police conducted a brief on-site inquiry and took down the witnesses’ phone numbers.

Only then did Han Shuangshuang have a chance to check on Xiao Man. 

She examined the dog’s head, relieved to find no wounds or bleeding.

But then she worried about internal injuries. 

What if Xiao Bai had a concussion? 

What if her clever brain had been damaged?

The man who’d hit Xiao Man with the stick came over, apologizing profusely.

Han Shuangshuang knew the situation had been urgent, and the man had meant well, so she couldn’t be too hard on him and accepted his apology. 

After everyone left, Han Shuangshuang was still uneasy. 

She muttered to herself, 

“Maybe we should go to the vet for an X-ray, just in case there’s internal damage.”

Xiao Man shook her head, feeling no dizziness.

This dog’s skull was really tough-she’d only been momentarily stunned by the blow but felt fine afterward.

She barked twice, pointing her paw toward the building where Han Shuangshuang lived, signaling she wanted to go home.

Han Shuangshuang asked uncertainly, 

“Are you really okay?”

Xiao Man walked straight ahead.

Han Shuangshuang hurried after her, 

“Xiao Bai, you’re so smart. If something’s wrong, you have to tell me!”

Xiao Man was exasperated. 

Tell her how? 

With what?

Later that night, as new packages arrived, Xiao Man enjoyed a small snack of chicken jerky before bed.

Who would’ve thought that, as a dog, chicken jerky could taste so good? 

Maybe it was because her teeth were in better shape now-chewing was no trouble at all!

The next day was a workday, and Han Shuangshuang hesitated about taking Xiao Bai to work again. 

But Xiao Man directly grabbed the big backpack, climbed in, and looked at Han Shuangshuang with pleading eyes.

Xiao Man thought the girl was overthinking things. 

Even the clearly dog-averse CEO hadn’t said anything yesterday-what was she so worried about?

Under Xiao Bai’s big, watery gaze, Han Shuangshuang’s heart melted. 

Before she knew it, she was already on her way to the office with Xiao Bai in her backpack.

Han Shuangshuang: “…” 

Well, Xiao Bai had taken a hit for no reason yesterday-letting her have her way wasn’t so bad.

When she arrived at the office, she saw her colleagues gathered around, looking at something. 

Someone spotted her and waved, 

“Han, come here! Is this you on the local trending news?”

Han Shuangshuang, still holding Xiao Bai, was pulled over.

She immediately saw the headline: 

“Brave Citizen Fights Off Two Aggressive Dogs to Save Girl.”

Accompanying it was a blurry surveillance screenshot taken at night, showing a girl sitting on the ground with two dogs nearby. 

A man was striking one of the dogs with a stick.

In contrast, another girl running toward the scene was clearly visible under the streetlight-it was Han Shuangshuang, who’d rushed over upon seeing Xiao Bai being hit.

Han Shuangshuang frowned in frustration, 

“They’re writing nonsense!”

What “two aggressive dogs”? 

Xiao Bai was the one trying to save the girl!

And if they had surveillance footage, why not release the video? 

Because the truth would be clear, and they couldn’t twist the story!

Her colleagues were curious, 

“What do you mean?”

Since the central figures in the image were blurry, they hadn’t recognized Xiao Bai, assuming Han Shuangshuang had just happened to be in the shot.

Han Shuangshuang angrily explained, 

“It was Xiao Bai who was trying to save the girl and got mistakenly hit! Look closely-she’s wearing a muzzle. How could she bite anyone?”

The image was too blurry, but after staring for a while, they could barely make out Xiao Bai’s muzzle and the familiar words on her little vest.

They pressed Han Shuangshuang for details, and as she recounted the story, they all agreed the media had twisted the truth.

One colleague suddenly suggested, 

“Han, you’re a witness, you have a duty to set the record straight!”

Another colleague chimed in excitedly, 

“Yeah, and you could ride this wave of attention to start a social media account! Pet influencers are pretty hot right now.”

“A dog that saves people is bound to be popular. You’d be missing out if you didn’t capitalize on this!”

Han Shuangshuang just stared at her colleagues as they  went from condemning irresponsible media to strategizing how to leverage the attention to grow an account, even estimating potential follower counts.

This was their daily work, after all it was practically a professional habit.

Han Shuangshuang was still young. 

As she watched her colleagues discuss fervently, she felt uneasy.

Xiao Bai had done something good, but if she used this to grow an account, wouldn’t that feel wrong? 

It would feel like she was stealing the spotlight, and the whole situation would take on a different tone.