[Blurb dated May 25, 2023]
Yuan Dong has just graduated from college and is broke as can be.
She has also taken in a stray Samoyed, and the two of them depend on each other, barely scraping by.
One day, she wakes up to find the Samoyed sitting by her bed. It sighs and says, "I've been thinking. How about you get me a phone, and we livestream to become internet celebrities?"
Yuan Dong: ? Did I wake up too suddenly? Why am I hearing a dog talk? I'll go back to sleep.
"Tch, get up!" The Samoyed smacks her face with a paw. "Since I came to live with you, I've been eating worse than when I was a stray! Could you have some ambition? Let's eat something good!"
Yuan Dong can't figure out how this Samoyed plans to charm an audience. It isn't as clingy as a poodle, as good at puzzles as a border collie, or as affectionate as a golden retriever.
And this so-called "smiling angel" doesn't even smile. Its temper is so bad you'd think the whole world owed it eight hundred pieces of meat.
The Samoyed says calmly, "I'm a medium."
Yuan Dong: ? Pets offer that kind of service now?
Before long, the Samoyed's spirit-medium livestreams set off a strange new trend among pet influencers.
In the first week, the Samoyed helps a cat ghost tell its owner something it had never been able to make them understand in its lifetime.
In the second week, it helps a dog ghost arrange to visit its owner in a dream.
In the third week, the Samoyed teaches viewers how to recognize their pets after they reincarnate.
At first, the curious onlookers don't believe it, but more and more netizens helped by the Samoyed come forward to share their stories.
Netizen A: My Beibei has been gone for ten years. I only just found out it's been by my side all this time. QAQ
Netizen B: Waaah, so Dahei saved up all those coins just to see me in my dreams...
Netizen C: Does anyone else get it? The dog I just adopted has all the exact same little quirks as the Mudball I had before!
Later, the Samoyed becomes a sensation. Its pet treat livestreams sell out in seconds, with sales far ahead of the competition. The stray animal cafe it opens becomes a popular check-in spot, and it eventually wins the Most Influential Creator of the Year award at the Phantom Festival ceremony.
At the awards ceremony, the host asks enthusiastically, "You went from an ordinary little dog to a mega-influencer, but you still eagerly help every little animal that comes to you. Is it because you feel responsible? Because you care?"
"Because I'm greedy."
That's the answer from a dog with limited capacity for civil conduct, still relying on Yuan Dong to pay for its treats by showing her face, even after becoming a mega-influencer.
"Of course," the Samoyed adds, "making up for regrets is a medium's mission."
Theme: Making up for regrets.
