The moment I held the dog, I still had a bit of uncertainty. However, the warm body in my arms reassured me—it had indeed chosen me.
As I rubbed its head, I took a step back while squatting, but unexpectedly, the dog suddenly stretched out its front paws and placed them on my shoulders.
The sudden gesture of it placing its paws on my shoulders caught me off guard, and I lost my balance, sitting down hard on the ground. A dull pain shot through my bottom, and the manager quickly rushed over to help me up.
Seeing that it had easily knocked me over, the dog's golden eyes contracted, showing an expression of surprise, as if it were taken aback.
It really didn't seem to know its own size—didn't it realize how big it was?
Its heavy front paws retracted from my shoulders, and it took a step back, sitting down with some unease, its tail flicking nervously.
The manager approached to assist me, his hand grabbing my arm.
Suddenly, the dog bared its teeth and let out a low, threatening growl from its throat. Its gaze turned sharp and cold, and this sudden change startled the manager.
For a brief moment, the oppressive air made the manager instinctively loosen his grip and retreat several meters. I was still sitting on the ground, also taken aback by the dog's sudden shift in behavior.
It turned out it wasn't a mute dog; it could make noise—just didn't bark randomly. Although I was frightened for a few seconds, I started feeling relieved once I realized the dog was unhurt.
When the manager backed away, the dog's expression returned to a calm, harmless state. Its ears relaxed into "airplane" position, and it walked towards me.
I pushed myself up using my knees, brushing the dust off the back of my long down jacket.
"Manager, I'll take the dog with me. Thanks for helping me watch it this morning."
The manager, still a bit dazed, nodded absentmindedly. "Oh, you're welcome, Miss Yuanzi."
I brought the dog back to my room. In the group chat, Liu Mei and Ouyang Jing asked how things went. I told them I had brought the dog back, and they immediately rushed over to pet it.
As soon as we entered the room, Liu Mei reached out her hand to the dog. However, the dog moved away from her palm, nimbly darting behind me, clearly not wanting to be petted by Liu Mei.
Liu Mei, puzzled, asked, "Did it just deliberately avoid me?"
Ouyang Jing: "It seems like it, it went all the way behind Zi."
Liu Mei, unconvinced, sniffed her hand and muttered, "My hands are clean, and there's no strange smell."
I was somewhat familiar with this behavior. When I first tried to pet the dog, it had avoided me in the same way.
Now it didn't resist my touch, but why didn't it want anyone else to touch it? That doesn't make sense; the lobby manager was able to interact with it earlier.
I looked at the dog, stepped aside, and said, "Xiao Jing, you try."
Ouyang Jing, who had been eager to pet the dog, approached, rubbing her hands together. When Liu Mei got close, the dog seemed to avoid her by accident, but when Ouyang Jing approached, it intentionally dodged.
It was like a child resisting being picked up by a stranger—the dog rejected Ouyang Jing in the same way.
"Maybe it's just not used to your scent yet. It wouldn't let me pet it at first either," I explained.
The two of them didn't dare to force the dog, fearing it might not be submissive to them, given that it was still new to me. They decided to wait and hope that after I trained it, they could try petting it again.
However, the dog's mood was still very stable. Even though it wouldn't let anyone pet it, it hadn't shown aggression towards my friends.
Since the moment I started interacting with it, the only time it bared its teeth was when the manager tried to help me up.
Thinking about it, I realized I didn't understand its logic at all. It interacted so well with the manager, so why would it act aggressively toward him?
During the afternoon gathering, I finally saw the several large dogs from the resort owner's home. They also noticed the dog I had brought with me.
One of them, a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, was very similar to mine, though its fur was a mix of gray and black, while mine was pure gray. Its physique was also larger.
The other dogs were very curious about my newly adopted wild dog, but unfortunately, they couldn't get close, as they were all tightly leashed by the owner's family.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Awooooo—"
The enthusiastic big dogs barked loudly at my new dog, their tails wagging happily. Meanwhile, the dog that stayed by my side just glanced at them, its demeanor calm and aloof.
I, with my backpack on, petted its head and explained its backstory to the astonished Minister Lin.
On the ride back to the city, because I had brought the dog, my colleagues were shocked but also understanding, so they didn't ask me to leave.
However, my seat was placed at the back to avoid disturbing the colleagues who were afraid of dogs.
Throughout the journey, I was shopping online for the equipment needed for a large dog. By the time I got home at 2 PM, I had already spent about five to six hundred yuan on dog supplies.
But I knew that the first thing I needed to do after adopting the dog was to take it to the pet hospital for a thorough check-up.