A month had passed, but Donghai Lin failed to find Hui Lang as all those dogs that were brought to the Lin Manor turned out to be not the ones he was looking for as Hui Lang's soul, the one that sealed all his memories of the previous life didn't react to any of the dogs.
Donghai Lin even had doubts as he wondered, 'What's going on? First Yama, especially, gave his words that we would reincarnate relatively closer in a place. And I have observed all the Xue Prefecture's dogs. But none of them is his reincarnate…. Did he just move to another prefecture after his birth? Or did he die so soon after his birth from some accidents?'
He continued, thinking in his head: 'Relatively closer… Relatively closer.'
A sudden realization struck his mind as he exclaimed, "Ah! He must be somewhere in Lin Manor." Then Donghai Lin abruptly sprung up on his feet.
"Dong Er, anything wrong?" asked Patriarch Lin Ren, who had been sitting beside him all along. During this long month, he had been accompanying his grandson except for some recreation time and nature calls. He even gave a bag of rice and a bag of pulses to everyone who came and arranged a large sumptuous feast for those coming to his Lin Manor. Therefore, everyone who feels disappointed earlier after Donghai Lin shook his head, had left the place happily as at least they got something in return for coming here. It was Donghai Lin's idea.
"Grandpa, I think there are still some dogs left in the Xue Prefecture to bring here." Donghai Lin said as he stared at him, his black eyes huge.
"Of course, there might be some dogs in the other three noble families. But, sorry, Dong Er, I can't make them bring their dogs here. Here in Xue Prefecture, they are a kind of our biggest competitors." Patriarch Lin Ren said as he shook his hand and he thought in his head, 'What am I doing here like a fool? To please this little guy, I've even summoned the entire dogs in the entire Xue Prefecture and he is too choosy to even pick one. But he's worth it.'
"You're wrong again, grandpa! I don't want to mind you with those three families…. What I mean is, there are dogs at Lin Manor, too? So, can you please summon all of them here for me? If I can't find the one I'm looking for, then I'll end this thinking that I don't have an affinity to own a wonderful dog. Hmm," Donghai Lin said and then he sighed heavily as if like an old man.
"Ha ha ha ha, alright," Patriarch Lin Ren laughed into a burst of hearty laughter. He then looked at the guard clad in heavy metal armor and ordered, "Captain Wu Yin, tell everyone to bring their dogs immediately. And also inform this; if someone fails to concur or tries to hide and avoids bringing the dogs here, I would administer them a heavy punishment. Go!"
Captain Wu Yin bowed slightly and walked away hurriedly.
Within a few minutes, everyone in the Lin Manor, including Donghai Lin's father, mother, four uncles, and their wives, came one by one and stood near the podium. Among them, there were also the relatives of the wives who had become the permanent residents of the Lin Manor. They all brought their dogs; mostly held by their servants and maids.
The four uncles and their wives all had grim expressions on their faces, but none of them spoke up about their feelings. Lin Donghai glanced at each of their faces and saw they didn't seem to approve of the idea.
But Donghai Lin even cared a bit about their feelings as his top priority right now was Hui Lang's new reincarnation.
"Grandpa, it hurts my heart to see my uncles, aunts, and their kids standing on the ground against the scorching sun while I sit here like some spoiled brat leisurely. So, can we start now?" Donghai Lin said, disrupting the thought of the Old Patriarch, who was thinking about something else in his mind as he saw those gloomy faces.
Hearing his words that sounded very sarcastic, Old Patriarch Lin Ren responded with a forceful smile, "Alright, let's end this quickly."
He then announced, "Alright, bring the dogs here!"
Then once again Donghai Lin began observing the dogs, and he shook his head after giving a glance at each dog.
'He's doing it again,' Patriarch Lin Ren thought with a wry smile.
Donghai observed nearly all the dogs after over fifteen minutes, and the only one left was in Lin Yin's hand, his first uncle Lin Zhou's five-year-old son.
Lin Zhou insisted his son go up on the podium.
"No, I can't let Mie-Mie give to others." Lin Yin refused as he hid behind her mother while cuddling a white little puppy closed.
On seeing that Lin Yin was hankering over the puppy, Lin Zhou sighed and said, cupping toward the old Patriarch on the podium. "Father, I think Yin Er is desperate to keep this puppy. Can you please let this one go?"
He then turned to the one-year-old boy sitting disproportionately on the luxurious chair and said, "My good nephew, Lin Donghai, if you let your brother have this puppy, I will give you whatever you like."
Despite his uncle's words being sweetened and pleasing to the ears, Donghai saw his displeasure and annoyance through his eyes, even though his first uncle covered it very well.
As a successful business tycoon in his previous life, he knew perfectly well how to read people through their facial expressions and, importantly their eyes, even if they all had hard-to-read poker faces.
As soon as Donghai Lin's eyes landed on the white fluffy puppy, Hui Lang's soul in his soul palace, which was contained in a transparent drop of immortal wine, convulsed. 'Oh, I've found you, Blackie!'
"Grandpa, this is the very dog I like." Donghai Lin said, pointing at the white puppy in Lin Yin's embrace with no care for his first uncle's honey-coated words….. (please, stay tuned!)