37: Enter the police station

After wandering outside for two days and finally finding a comfortable place, the Schnauzer lay down on the cardboard Ye Su had prepared for it after eating, though it was unclear if it had fallen asleep.

He never fought a battle he wasn't prepared for.

Taking this opportunity, Ye Su picked up his phone and started searching for things to keep in mind when returning a pet dog to its owner.

He didn't know until he searched, and what he found was shocking. As a university student, Ye Su couldn't have imagined that people's hearts in society could be so sinister.

"It's one thing to get the pet back and immediately renege on the deal, but some people actually bite back, claiming that others stole the dog and then pretended to return it just to scam them out of money."

First there was the "If you didn't hit them, why help them up?" mentality, and now there's "If you didn't steal it, why would you bring it back?"

No wonder there are fewer and fewer good people in society; everyone just wants to protect themselves, believing that avoiding trouble is better than inviting it.

Originally, he thought returning the dog would be a simple matter—everyone just exchanges money for the dog and it's done.

Now it seemed Ye Su had viewed people in society too simply.

According to online comments, only a very small fraction of people who post high-reward "Lost Dog" notices actually fulfill their promises in the end.

"In that case, I still need to prepare in advance to guard against the dog owner reneging on the deal."

When he picked up the dog, Ye Su noticed that it was wearing a collar but had no leash attached.

Losing a dog in this situation, there is a small probability that the door wasn't closed and the dog ran out, but a high probability that they were walking the dog without a leash and not watching it, failing to even notice when the dog was lost.

The former is understandable, but if they were truly walking the dog without a leash, Ye Su would have to put a question mark over the dog owner's character.

When character is in doubt, the probability of accidents happening while returning the dog naturally increases significantly.

Having spent so much effort in the middle of the night, even giving the dog a bath, Ye Su had no interest in just getting a thousand or so yuan as a trouble fee, so he had to start looking up guides to deal with tomorrow's emergencies.

...

At nine o'clock the next morning, Ye Su went out with the dog, but he didn't contact the dog owner from the "Lost Dog" notice, nor did he go to the address written on it; instead, he arrived at a police station.

This was also the first trick taught by netizens under various videos about broken reward promises: invite an authoritative third party to witness, and the police station naturally became Ye Su's best choice.

Before this, netizens also taught that one must first solidify the chain of evidence, such as recording a video of the process of finding the pet.

Ye Su had recorded a video last night, originally intending to send it home to explain the source of the twenty thousand yuan, but through a twist of fate, he had instead completed the process of solidifying the chain of evidence and proving his innocence.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

The young woman on duty at the police station saw a handsome man walk in carrying a cute little dog, and her attitude was extremely enthusiastic.

"Hello, miss. I found a dog last night and thought it had been abandoned, so I planned to take it home and keep it. But when I was scrolling through short videos this morning, I discovered that the dog owner had already posted a 'Lost Dog' notice online and offered a reward of twenty thousand yuan."

"So, I brought the dog here, hoping you could help witness the return of the dog to them and ensure they fulfill their reward promise, to avoid any disputes."

After explaining the cause of the matter in a few sentences, Ye Su took out the short video he had prepared in advance and handed it to the young woman on duty.

The police officer on duty took the phone, carefully compared the photo of the dog in the image with the one in Ye Su's arms, and after confirming they were the same dog, she recorded the contact information from the "Lost Dog" notice.

"This is indeed the dog from the 'Lost Dog' notice. I'll have my colleague take you to the mediation room to wait for a moment while I help you contact the other party to come and collect the dog."

"Okay, thank you, miss."

"Haha, you're welcome."

After laughing at Ye Su, the police officer on duty found a colleague, said a few words while pointing at Ye Su, and then brought the person over to Ye Su.

"Hello, my surname is Chen."

"Hello, Officer Chen."

"Let me take you to the mediation room first; our colleague will help you contact the owner."

"Okay, thank you."

As Ye Su left, the police officer on duty picked up the phone and dialed the number according to the contact information just recorded.

...

Meanwhile, inside apartment 1302, Building 9 of Fuying Residential Complex, a woman's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"The police station?"

"Yes! That's my lost dog! Thank you, Comrade Police, for helping me find my son!"

"Someone helped find it. He's at the police station with the dog right now, expecting us to fulfill the twenty thousand yuan reward written on the 'Lost Dog' notice?"

"Which police station are you at? We'll be there immediately."

Hanging up the phone, a man quickly stepped forward: "Was Mao Qiu found?"

"Yes, the police station said a man found Mao Qiu and brought it to the station, waiting for us to confirm, and also waiting for us to pay the twenty thousand yuan from the 'Lost Dog' notice."

"Is this guy crazy with poverty? He actually dares to ask for twenty thousand for finding a dog!"

"So what do we do now? The person is already waiting at the police station. Are we not going to take Mao Qiu back?"

"It's fine. It's actually easier to handle at the police station. We'll take the Dog Registration Certificate; as long as we prove the dog is ours, even if we don't pay, in front of the police, that guy will have to obediently return Mao Qiu to us."

"You're right! I'll delete the 'Lost Dog' notice right now. When the time comes, I'll insist that the guy made it all up, then give him a few hundred yuan to send him on his way!"

Like attracts like.

The couple reached an agreement instantly. After deleting the evidence, they hurriedly left the house, wanting to bring the dog home immediately.

...

The police station Ye Su chose was between his rental apartment and Fuying Residential Complex, and the distance wasn't far.

About ten minutes later, a man and a woman rushed into the police station.

"Hello, we are the ones who lost the dog. Someone from your station just contacted me, saying Mao Qiu had been found and telling us to come over to confirm!"

"No need to rush, the other party is waiting in the mediation room right now. I'll take you both there."

"Okay!"

"How should I address you both?"

"My surname is Lin."

"My surname is Xu."

"Mr. Xu, Ms. Lin, this way please."

As soon as they entered the mediation room, the couple saw the Schnauzer in Ye Su's hands:

"Son, you worried Mommy to death! Where have you been these past two days!"

Seeing this scene, Ye Su felt a bit uncomfortable:

You love to treat your pet like a son, that's your freedom, and I have no right to interfere, but when you shout that, shouldn't you check who else is around? Who the hell are you shouting that at!

"Hello, miss. Are you sure this is the dog you lost?"

"Yes." The man beside her stepped forward and took out the prepared dog certificate: "This is Mao Qiu's dog certificate. It can prove that this is our dog."

There wasn't anything to doubt about the whole matter. The police officer took the dog certificate, compared it briefly, returned it to the man, and then turned to nod at Ye Su:

"This is indeed the dog they lost. If there are no issues, you two sides can proceed with the handover."