\"Original essays by Hai Chuan people – The dogs we raised together over the years\"

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This post was last edited by Benpeng Guo Jibo45 on 2017-9-26 at 10:25. When writing articles on emotional topics, I always end up moved to tears while writing; I unconsciously immerse myself in those memories, which are always so beautiful. Just a few days ago, I finally managed to get in touch with all three of my childhood friends. They were friends from kindergarten; I spent my entire childhood and adolescence with them. I miss them very much; I even wrote some articles expressing my longing for them. I thought that in this life we would never be as close as we were when we were kids, but unexpectedly, the WeChat group helped us become close again. That night, the four of us talked almost all night long; none of us wanted to go to bed first. We talked about the games we played as children, the wishes we made, the school we attended back then, the teachers and classmates from those days, who had the best food, who did their homework best, who was the bravest, the happy moments, the unhappy moments – it just went on and on... Perhaps we talked for too long and too much, to the point where I forgot what year it was; it felt like I was still a child, unable to move on from that time. No matter when we chat, we always end up talking about dogs, about the dogs we used to raise together over the years, and then we spend some time missing them together... Before starting our story, I’d like to talk about a movie first. The movie is titled \"The Story of Hachiko the Dog\", and the main character is a dog named Hachiko. No one knows where it came from; fortunately, it found a good owner. Hachiko would take the professor to work every day; at five o’clock, when the sun set and the whistles sounded, the professor would appear on time, and Hachiko would wag its tail and rush towards him. One day, before the professor went to work, it unusually picked up a ball to cheer him up. It was on that very day that the professor suddenly collapsed during class, died from a sudden heart attack, and never returned to the station. From then on, every evening at five o’clock, Hachiko would come to the train station to wait and gaze. On the second and third days, as summer gave way to autumn, Hachiko believed that he would surely wait for his master. So he waited for ten years, watching the sunsets for ten years, listening to the ship’s horns for ten years. Throughout those ten years, Hachiko endured wind and rain, until he finally died. For Hachiko, this wait lasted a lifetime. I watched this movie with my husband at first; when he saw me crying so bitterly, he asked me in confusion why So I told him about those years when we raised dogs together. 3 Back then, we played everything together, usually one per person, and dogs were one of those things. Ru’s dog mother gave birth to three puppies, and naturally, each of us got one. Da Bao and Er Bao are both brothers; only Xiao Bao is the sister. The eldest brother is the biggest; he has a dark-colored coat, is plump and seems a bit simple-minded, making him very cute. This dog is undoubtedly Ru’s (since the mother dog belongs to her family, and she has the right to choose), and its name is Kuroko ； The second brother is of medium height; his body is black while his four legs are snow white. That’s why he was named Hei Bai – he’s the most handsome one. This one belongs to Ning; I want it too, but I’ll leave it to Ning ； Needless to say, the younger sister is mine; she’s small, ugly, and has yellow hair. I’ve never understood why, since her parents are both black, she is the only one with yellow hair. Because of her yellow fur all over her body, she was named Xiao Huang. Xiao Huang is not only unattractive; her tail is completely hairless – it’s a bare tail, which makes her even uglier. I heard that a dog’s tail needs to be cut a little when it’s born, so that it won’t bite people; I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but Little Yellow has indeed been very well-behaved. Although he wasn’t likable at first, we each took one and competed to take good care of them. My mother likes to keep dogs, and we’ve always had dogs in our family; it’s just that I have never raised any myself. Only my younger sister has a dog that I take care of personally. At that time, there wasn’t much delicious food at home. First, I secretly mixed up my grandmother’s milk powder (which my aunt had given to her) and gave it to her to drink, and I fed her the same food I ate and the same porridge I drank. Occasionally, mom would buy us sausages to eat, and I would also secretly give some to her. Apart from going to school, I spent my days with her, and we even slept together at night. Every day I talk to her, tidy up her fur, and rub her little tail that is covered in scabs. Sometimes I pray that she will grow a new, beautiful tail again, and other times I worry about what will happen if she never grows a tail again in her life. Looking at the fluffy big tails of Blackie and Whitey, the dogs from those two families, and then looking at my little Yellow, well, it really makes me feel sad. Every weekend, we take our dogs for walks and visit each other’s places. Most of the time, we take them to the Ru family’s house, as the dog mother and her son Heizi are there, allowing the whole family to be together. The three of us then discuss things related to raising dogs, such as what happy moments we’ve had with the dogs this week, or what new foods they seem to like, and so on ； Sometimes we go out into the countryside together; the three of us and the three little dogs run around and have fun together ； It’s quiet sometimes too; when the three of us are doing our homework, the other three lie quietly beside us, as if they know they shouldn’t disturb us while we work. And that’s how they spent many wonderful moments with us. We treated them as part of our family, and we made a promise together that we, along with the dogs, would always stay together and never be separated… Later, Badui from the Ning family received sad news about her dog. She loved her dog very much; she was the youngest sister in the family and the most pampered one. All the delicious food in her home was meant for her, while all the best treats were given to her dog. He peeled and chewed up melon seeds and peanuts to feed to his dog; he also crushed sugar to give to it. She gave her dog without hesitation everything she thought was delicious. It is said that on the day Bai Hei died, Ning accidentally tried to feed it crickets, as she knew Bai Hei liked them. So she went out into the wild and caught a whole bottle full of crickets, giving them all to Bai Hei to eat. As a result, Bai Hei died suddenly, without any warning. Perhaps it was because it ate too much, or maybe there were too many of those things that Ning thought were good for it in its stomach, and they couldn’t be digested. When Ru and I took our own dog to see Ning, she was crying very sadly, and we also cried very sadly together. Later, the three of us, along with Hei Zi and Xiao Huang, went to the countryside and chose a slope covered with small yellow flowers; Ning’s father helped bury Hei Bai there. The scenery there is beautiful; we often go there to have fun. Every time I go there, I think of black and white, to this day. Later, the dog from the Ru family also passed away... My little yellow dog stayed with me for several more years. Ning and Ru would often come to my house to play with it, telling it stories about Kuroshi and Black and White, as well as recalling those happy times together. When Xiao Huang left, I didn’t want to bring it up, because I could sense her pain. She went outside by herself; I don’t know what she ate. My mother said she must have eaten something poisonous or containing drugs. She insisted on going back home. I could see that she was in great pain and felt weak, but she kept running around, under the bed. Perhaps her stomach was upset. I called out to her, but she didn’t respond; she just kept running until she ran out of strength and lay down… I didn’t dare to go look at her. It was my mother who brought her out from under the bed. My mother said that Xiao Huang had passed away. I ran outside and cried bitterly. Some people say that dogs are the most home-loving; no matter how far they go from home, they can always find their way back ； No matter where he goes, he will end up returning; even if he dies, he will die in his own home. 5 Xiao Huang, Heizi, and Heibai – the three siblings – all left. Perhaps we were too young at that time and didn’t know how to love dogs or take care of them, so they left. To the point that our parents all said they would never raise dogs for us again, saying that it made them sad to see us upset because of the dogs. Xiao Huang is the only dog I have owned over the years. Later, when I talked with Ru and Ning, I found that aside from Hei Zi and Hei Bai, they had never owned any other dogs. I asked if they still wanted to keep a dog, and they all said yes, but in the end they didn’t have the courage. Because of those three dogs, we share the same views on raising dogs; it’s probably true that we understand each other well in this regard. As a result, even after many years, we still remain in complete agreement when it comes to dog-raising. Like attracts like; we are people of the same type, and our dogs are also of the same type. So, no matter how many years pass, we will still be the same – those of us who raised dogs together as children; we won’t change. In a sense, dogs warmed our childhoods with their short lives and elevated our pure friendships. 6 Recently, I heard another touching story about a dog. Its owner loved it very much; since the owner was going to the United States, he brought the dog from China to America. The dog lived there for eight years, and after returning to his home country, he brought the dog back with him. The dog accompanied its owner through childbirth, car accidents, and all the joys and sorrows of life. It dedicated its entire being, its whole life, to accompanying its owner on this journey through life. I was deeply moved by this story – by the owner’s unwavering loyalty to the dog, and by the dog’s faithful devotion to its owner… A dog might be just one of your many hobbies, perhaps one-tenth or one-hundredth of them, but for the dog, you are everything. The average lifespan of domestic pet dogs is only a little over a decade. They have no right to choose a master; for them, the master is the reason for their existence in this world. If you decide to bring a puppy home, ask yourself first whether you can accept 100% trust and dependence without any complaints, whether you are confident in your ability to provide it with a safe and loving environment free from harm or separation. When it falls ill or gets old, will you give it up due to external pressures, or will you stay by its side until it completes its short life? Layn also loves dogs very much; ever since he was 3 years old, he’s been talking about getting a dog. He has asked many times, but I never agreed. So the question I’ve been struggling with regarding whether to keep it or not finally has an answer today. Although Lain might be unhappy, this explanation is likely to be long; I will explain it to him slowly. On the day he understands, perhaps he will comprehend. Thank you for reading my story.