Pet King

It was strange––the mini poodle had been barking the whole time. It wouldn’t even stop under Zhang Zian’s instructions or Fina’s threat, but once the unconscious female customer woke up after drinking the sweetened water, it let out a whimper and stopped barking. Soon after, it ran back inside the shop as if it had lost interest in her.

When it stopped barking, Snoopy, too, stopped barking.

Her vision started to focus from near to far, and soon, the faces of Masanori Suzuhara, Zhang Zian, Lu Yiyun, and Wang Qian appeared in front of her as her vision cleared up. She opened her lips slightly and weakly asked, “I… What’s wrong?”

At that moment, Zhang Zian was really worried that she would ask, “Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?” They were the three questions of memory loss. It was going to be troublesome if that happened.

“You suddenly fainted,” Zian briefly answered. “It seems to be hypoglycemia.”

“Oh, thank you.” She understood what happened immediately and said apologetically, “I’m terribly sorry. It wasn’t on purpose…” She tried to stand up but struggled.

“It’s best not to move around for now.” Masanori Suzuhara pressed on her shoulders. “We’ve already called an ambulance, so let’s wait for the emergency care personnel to give you a checkup.”

The female customer stared at Masanori Suzuhara’s face. She had not seen that person before.

Zhang Zian introduced them. “You don’t have to thank us! Thank her instead—she’s a customer of our shop, too. She’s studying medicine and happened to pass by on her morning exercise. She had a sweet on her, which she dissolved into sweetened water and fed to you––that’s why you’re awake now.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry to trouble you,” she thanked Masanori Suzuhara.

Seeing that she looked much better now, Masanori Suzuhara helped her sit upright. “It’s okay––it was nothing much!”

It was spring and the floor was very cold. Zhang Zian gestured for Wang Qian to bring over a cushion for her to sit on, or else she could catch a cold.

“Master, here… what happened? I heard a dog barking nonstop so I came over to take a look…” Li Kun ran over from next door and was surprised by what he saw.

“None of your business. You can head back.” Zhang Zian waved his hands to send him back. Li Kun, on the other hand, cast a look at him, meaning to say that he’d go over later and tell him what happened.

“Speaking of which… I also came over after hearing the dog bark.” Masanori Suzuhara turned her head to look at the mini poodle. It had tired itself out from barking, and was drinking water from its water bowl.

Masanori Suzuhara said, “My condition today isn’t really good––I felt a little weak––but just as I was hesitating about whether or not I should turn back to the dorm and rest, I heard a dog barking nonstop. I thought, ‘Whose dog is this? Did something happen?’ And it sounded like it came from the pet shop, so I ran a few more steps to check on it. Who knew that I would see you faint…”

After everyone heard what she said, they all looked at the mini poodle.

“Such a coincidence,” Wang Qian said in a surprised tone. “This dog usually doesn’t bark like that, but it started to bark nonstop earlier and now it stopped again… Oh, right––I heard that dogs can see things… Could it be that a ghost had passed by outside? The cause of her fainting might have something to do with the ghost! She might even be possessed… Master, should we hire a monk or a Taoist priest to chant some scriptures?”

Lu Yiyun immediately covered her ears. “Stop saying that! It’s too scary!”

“Read your mom’s scriptures!” Zhang Zian scolded. “Putting aside whether or not dogs can actually see ghosts, it’s now broad daylight. What kind of ghost would harm people under the bright sun?”

“It might’ve been a western ghost who’s suffering from a difference in timezone…” Wang Qian continued.

Masanori Suzuhara stared at the mini poodle. She thought for a while before she said, “Actually, I’ve heard stories of some dogs who are supposedly sensitive to changes in blood sugar. When the blood sugar of a diabetic falls drastically, they would behave abnormally––for example, barking madly… In medical school, there’s a study group formed around this subject, but I’m not too sure about the details.”

Zhang Zian had heard of a similar story, but he had always thought that it was just an exaggerated rumor. But after seeing what happened today, he couldn’t help but believe it.

“Are you saying that this dog is able to detect the changes in blood sugar levels in a diabetic?” Zian asked.

Masanori Suzuhara smiled apologetically. “Maybe, I’m not too sure. A dog’s sense of smell is super sensitive… How sensitive it is can be hard for ordinary humans to imagine. They can even detect chemical changes that are taking place in a human’s body… Just like how some people are very sensitive to a specific smell, some dogs are like that, too. They have a special preference for a certain smell during a series of chemical changes that takes place during hypoglycemia, and once they catch such a smell, they respond with abnormal behaviors. But the research on this subject has only begun recently, and not all dogs have similar reactions—maybe the other dogs are not sensitive to such a smell, or they probably don’t think much about the smell even if they’re able to catch it.”

The mini poodle’s actions coincided with everything that Masanori Suzuhara had mentioned. Earlier, when the female customer’s blood sugar started to drop drastically before she even realized it herself, the mini poodle had started to bark at her. Now, it seemed like it wasn’t because it hated her, but it was because it had picked up a smell of danger, and it was only after her blood sugar level had returned to normal after she was fed the sweetened water that it stopped barking.

Listening to them, Famous regretted that it didn’t come over earlier––it might’ve unlocked a new skill if it had. But now it was too late since the smell had disappeared. It could only wait until another diabetic walked in and coincidentally experienced a drop in blood sugar for another chance…

The female customer had already gotten much better, and was listening to Masanori Suzuhara. She seemed to understand what was going on, although not clearly. Just like the others, she stared at the mini poodle.

“Which is why, instead of thanking me, you should thank that little puppy,” Masanori Suzuhara said as she laughed. “It really barked with all its might. If it wasn’t for the dog, I might not have come over… Ah, right, are you here to buy a pet?”

The female customer quietly nodded.

“Have you picked one yet?” Masanori Suzuhara asked again.

“Not yet,” the female customer answered. “I still don’t know what pet I want.”

“Why not this one then? With it by your side, you’ll be much safer,” Masanori Suzuhara suggested as she pointed at the mini poodle.

She smiled embarrassedly at Zhang Zian for making the decision herself. She added, “Of course, that’s if the shop manager is willing to part with it.”

Obviously, if the mini poodle was really able to perceive the risk of hypoglycemia in diabetics and respond accordingly, its value must be different from what it originally was. It could even be said to be a valuable commodity, because there was not a small number of rich people with diabetes, and they were more than willing to invest in the safety of their own lives.

The female customer was tempted. She felt that what Masanori Suzuhara said did make sense, but she was too shy to ask. It felt like she was using her own condition to pressure Zhang Zian.