It's all the puppy's fault

During the summer vacation of 2019, I developed a feud with a neighbor who was walking his dog.

The reason for the feud was because of his two dogs.

The two dogs involved in the accident were French bulldogs, and from my aesthetic point of view, they were so ugly that I didn't like them from the beginning.

They are two little black female dogs, and they are twins. They look so similar that outsiders can never tell which is which. They have wonderful names, one is called Nina and the other is called Lola. When they were called by their owner, they sounded like two proud and arrogant young ladies.

The owner of the two puppies has white hair and is obviously quite old. He usually walks with a cane and it seems that he has problems with his legs. Because I didn't know the dog owner's name, I took it upon myself to call him "old man", which was not a friendly name.

The old man and I often meet in the forest because we both live near the forest. Usually the old man walks the dog and I walk the kids. The old man never put a leash on his dogs, always letting them run around , not to mention putting muzzles on them.

Isn't it strange that the French treat dogs better than people? When dog walkers introduce their dogs to others, they often don't say male or female, but boy or girl. I even have a friend who says her dog is her daughter.

Speaking of the old man’s two dogs, both were very excitable, probably because they were still puppies. Every time they saw us, they would bark at us, then run, jump, pounce and chase us, always scaring my daughter to scream and run away. When the dog sees the baby running, he chases it more vigorously and with greater happiness. For those of us who don’t know much about dogs, it’s hard to tell whether a dog wants to attack people or just wants to play with them.

In addition to these two little puppies, there are several terrible fighting dogs in the forest. Not to mention my daughter, even I myself have been attacked by them. Whenever I encountered a ferocious dog that was not on a leash, I would take the key out of my pocket, hold it tightly in my hand, exposing the sharp teeth, and use it as a weapon in case of emergency. One of my female neighbors even suggested that I buy a stun gun online so that I can use it to protect myself when I encounter danger.

Coincidentally, when I was thinking about these vicious dogs, I accidentally saw the recent social news video in Taiwan "Pitbull Lucky jumped out of the window and bit people twice", which was really terrifying.

During the summer before COVID19 started, my mother came to visit me from Taiwan. At that time, I often took my mother and my daughter for walks in the forest. My mother was already old at that time, her reaction was a little slow, and it was not very convenient for her to walk. My daughter was still young at the time, only five or six years old, and was particularly afraid of dogs.

One afternoon, my three generations of grandparents and I went for a walk in the forest and happened to meet the old man and his two dogs again.

On this day, as always, the old man's dog was still excited and chased my daughter. The child was so scared that he hid behind me and grabbed the corner of my clothes. After the dogs caught up with me, the baby and two dogs started circling around me. Finally, the baby slipped and fell to the ground, with a slight scratch on his leg.

When things got to this point, I was already furious. But when the old man saw this, he not only did not apologize to us, but also did not call his two dogs. The old man said to me: "My dog is very friendly and never bites anyone." This is what every dog owner says, and it doesn't comfort us at all. He also said: "You are so weird. I have never seen anyone so afraid of dogs. Besides, you shouldn't run when you see a dog. If your child doesn't run, my dog won't chase her."

His words ignited a fire in my heart, and I responded bluntly, "Your dog was so excited and scared the child like this, but instead of apologizing to us, you said it was our fault. You are so unreasonable."

A passing cyclist saw us arguing and stopped to see what was going on. Finally, the cyclist said to me in front of the old man: "He has reached an age where he can't understand what other people say, so don't bother with him." Then he pedaled away leisurely.

This unexpected conflict caused me to delay my son's piano lessons. I had originally planned to go home and drive my son to school after taking a walk. Because the time left was very limited, I had to urge the mother and daughter to walk faster on the way back from the walk.

In order to save time, I walked very fast and led the two generations of grandparents and grandchildren back home. As I was walking, I suddenly heard a bang. I turned around and saw that my mother was gone. I looked down again and saw the old lady lying on the ground, lying like a straight human stump. When I saw her face down on the ground, my heart almost stopped and I thought it was the end.

I stopped, squatted down and helped my mother up, first to see if she was disfigured and to check how many teeth she had left. I quickly checked my whole body and fortunately there were no serious injuries, just a slight bump on the cheek with some dirt on it. I quickly took out the tissue and wiped my mother's face clean, and comforted her at the same time.

After my mother came to her senses, she said that she tripped because she kicked a stone. As people get older, their reactions become slower and they can fall if they stumble or fall. This fall did not so much hurt the person as it scared him. In fact, I was the one who was really scared, but at that time I had to pretend to be calm and deal with the sudden accident first.

After knowing that everything was safe, I took a few deep breaths, put away all the fear, anxiety, and anger, and summarized the situation: "All of this is the fault of that damn old man."

Needless to say, from this moment on, the old man became my irreconcilable enemy.

Not long after, the new coronavirus came. Several city lockdowns didn’t leave me with many opportunities to see the old man and his two wayward dogs. Gradually, they began to fade in my memory.

It was not until the lockdown began in 2022 that everyone resumed their previous habits, taking their kids for a walk or their dogs for a walk. Sometimes, I would catch a glimpse of the old man and his two dogs in the forest, but I would deliberately take a detour to avoid them and, in short, avoid meeting him face to face. Occasionally, I would meet a thin, gray-haired old lady walking the old man's dog. Although I didn't know her, I knew the dog, and I guessed that the old lady must be the old man's wife.

One day, the weather was bad, so I took a five-million-yuan umbrella and went out to walk my child. I happened to meet a gray-haired old lady walking her dog.

As usual, the two little beasts were still vicious and kept rushing over to harass us. How dare you! My anger hasn't even subsided yet, and you bastards dare to act wildly in front of me again. This is intolerable.

At that time, I was furious. I picked up the umbrella and waved it hard at the two dogs, meaning: "You two little beasts, better behave yourself, or I will beat you until you piss your pants." To be honest, the two dogs were not stupid at all. They understood what I meant and were scared away by me. It is said that when beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first. This time, I released strong hostility towards the old lady.

The old lady didn't say hello to me, but just stood not far away and watched closely, taking in everything. The old lady seemed to be a reserved person. She didn't say anything, but just called the two puppies back to her side and continued on her way. We chose another path and took a detour.

One day, in the forest, I met another neighbor, Bernard, who was also walking his dog in the forest. Bernard's dog looks like the "Little Yellow" in "Xiaoying's Story". It is a beagle named "Norden".

Unlike the old man's two spoiled dogs, Norden is a very quiet dog, gentle and elegant. Not only did Norden recognize our family, but every time he saw us from a distance, he would wag his tail at us. When we approached, he would come over to say hello and let us touch his head. Although my daughter is afraid of dogs, she was not afraid at all when she met Norden and even drew a portrait of him at home.

Speaking of Bernard, I run into him almost every day. Bernard is not very old, but he got married and had children early, and retired early, which makes him look old. When he had nothing to do, he would take Norden to explore various corners of the forest, walking about 10 kilometers a day. Norden is a hunting dog with a lot of energy. He must be very happy to have such an owner.

Whenever Bernard met me, he especially liked to chat with me. Anyway, he had nothing to do, so making friends with dogs became the most important activity of his day. That year, my son was about to drop out of school and become unemployed, and I was worrying about how to plan for the future, so I talked to him about this topic.

"Oh, my Mark, he will have nowhere to go in two months. Although he is as docile as a house cat, he has autism and will not be able to go to school, receive special education, or find a job. It's really a headache."

"It's really shameful that France, a country that values human rights, can ignore the rights of the mentally handicapped. As a Frenchman myself, I find it incredible. Let me put it this way, I have a friend who lives right across from my house. He specializes in placing disabled people in a provincial government unit. I asked him about it. By the way, you may have seen him. He also often comes here to walk his dogs. He has two French bulldogs and usually walks with a cane."

"Ah??? Really?" I knew he was talking about the old man. "Uh, I guess that's not necessary..." It's so embarrassing. What should I do now?

"It's okay, he's a very nice guy, I'll talk to him later," Bernard said.

"I...I...I don't need to bother him. Uh...actually, it's like this. I had some problems with him because of his dog. Now our relationship is not very good. It's better not to bother him..."

"It's okay. I'll go ask for you." Bernard insisted.

Soon, Bernard sent me a message saying that the old man was very willing to talk to me and was willing to give me his private phone number, saying that I could contact him at any time. I added the old man's contact information, but have been slow to take action.

A few days later, I met the old man in the forest again.

"Hello," I said, feeling a sense of discomfort.

"Hello, Bernard told me everything. You don't have to worry about what happened before. I have forgotten everything. You don't have to worry about it. I am willing to help you."

After hearing what the old man said, I felt relieved. One advantage of the French is that they are more likely to humble themselves and seek reconciliation, and will not hold a grudge for life because of losing face in a certain conflict.

Then we talked about my son for a while and then said goodbye to each other.

In fact, I didn't expect the old man to help my son find a job at all, and later facts proved that he really had no way to find a job for my son. However, I personally feel very relieved that the old man and I were finally able to reconcile because of our son's matter.

At the end of 2023, Bernard and his "old couple" moved away. Without Norden, our daily walks became less exciting and fun. After that, whenever I met the old man in the forest, I would chat with him for a while. I felt that it could make up for the loneliness caused by the absence of Bernard and Norden. Gradually, the old man and I became familiar with each other. His two little female dogs have grown up a bit and are not as impulsive as before. They seem to be kinder and cuter.

The time came to October 2024. One day, my daughter and I were taking a daily walk in the forest, and we met the old man.

"Hi, Lao Qiang, how are you?"

"Oh, it's okay, that's it. My wife passed away. Now I live alone, life will go on as it should, and I have to stay optimistic."

"How could this happen? Didn't I just see her walking the dog before I returned to Taiwan in July? That was only two or three months ago, wasn't it?" My eyes widened.

"She passed away in August."

"It's too sudden, what's going on?" I still couldn't believe it.

"She was diagnosed with stomach cancer in February this year. She never complained when she was sick in the past. But when she really got sick this time, it was too late." The old man's wife is actually only 57 years old. She works in a hospital and has not retired yet. That's why I seldom see her in the forest.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Ah, I should have died earlier than her. I had cancer since I was in my thirties, and it took decades. Even my legs were amputated, but I'm still here today. But she died in just six months. God is so unfair. My biggest regret in this life is that I didn't have the chance to take her on a trip to Asian countries. She never visited China or Japan before she died... Alas, it's too late to say these things."

When the old man talked about these sad things, he actually had a smile on his face. It was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad.

"I think you must be very sad, then how can you chat and laugh like nothing happened?" I was really curious.

"What's the point of being sad? Life has to go on. It's better to live well and do whatever you can for others."

After hearing this, on the one hand I admired the old man’s optimistic attitude, but on the other hand I felt sad. I was still thinking, how I had been so rude to the old man’s wife before, and now, before I had the chance to get to know her, ask her name, chat with her, and reconcile with her, she was gone just like that.

Now, six months have passed, and it is already March 2025, and I have never seen the old man again. I told myself that life is short and he might be gone, following his beloved wife.

"Hi, Lao Qiang, I was taking the tram passing by the forest early in the morning and suddenly thought of you. It's been a long time since we last met. How are you?" I sent him a message.

"Your message is so heartwarming. I'm fine. I force myself to live a good life, continue working and keep smiling," he replied.

"Then I'm relieved. Spring is here, so we'll have more opportunities to meet. I hope to run into you in the forest in a couple of days."