Xu Wentang has an eight-year-old basset hound.
Before his mother died, she told him, "Tudou is a good dog, just a little lazy. You need to be patient with him."
Xu Wentang took his mother's words to heart. But as the days went by, he gradually became a numb work machine, finding it hard even to breathe, let alone take good care of a dog.
After a battery of tests, the results on his report read: "Moderate depression, severe anxiety."
To save his own life, Xu Wentang quit his job without hesitation and stayed home.
On his tenth day of doing nothing at home, he looked at the nearly demolished house, struggled out of bed, and cried as he cleaned up.
"Mom... Didn't you say Tudou wouldn't wreck the house...?"
.
Xu Wentang found a dog.
A beagle at the peak of its cuteness.
The little thing, not even as long as his arm, poked out of the bushes wearing a floral bib and immediately hugged Tudou's leg.
Xu Wentang: "..."
Right. This was a scam.
Unable to bear leaving the little beagle homeless on a cold night, Xu Wentang took it home and posted online to find its owner.
One month, two months... The dog's owner was nowhere to be found.
So the little beagle got a new name, Digua, and soon learned to wreck the house alongside Tudou.
Their doubled destructive power was no joke. Xu Wentang successfully settled into a daily routine of walking the dogs during the day, working on illustrations at night, and cleaning up the mess in between.
When he finally got a moment to breathe, he threw his arms around the heavily pregnant Tudou and sobbed. The brand-new slippers were still in Digua's mouth.
"Waaah, Douzi... Why do I feel like I've switched to bipolar disorder...?"
Tudou: "..."
.
Two in the morning, another sleepless night.
An overexcited Digua chewed on a new toy, flinging his big ears and braying like a donkey, while Tudou snored like a thunderstorm in his dog bed.
Unable to take it anymore, Xu Wentang grabbed the leash and started out on a late-night dog walk.
Passing over a bridge, Xu Wentang faced the rushing river and spread his arms. Even the donkey-like cries in his ears felt especially vivid in that moment...
He thought, Mom, it's good to be alive.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Someone grabbed Xu Wentang around the waist and hoisted him up, leaving him dangling like a turtle on its back.
The man carrying him had the face of a domineering CEO, sharply defined features, and muscles digging into Xu Wentang's spine.
"You're so young. What could make you give up? Where are your parents?"
The man laid into him, but after listening for a while, Xu Wentang said calmly, "I'm just walking my dog."
"You're out of bounds."
Qin Tianyao: "You're walking your dog at two in the morning?"
Digua gave two excited "werer" barks and pawed at the man's leg.
Qin Tianyao looked down, then pointed at the heart-shaped marking on Digua's ear in disbelief. "Mantou?"
Xu Wentang: "...?"
No way. This was his Digua.
Theme: Even in darkness, keep your heart turned toward the light
