After the middle-aged woman spoke, a chorus of voices rose up, condemning and mocking Renee Jennings.
"You say you can understand what dogs are saying? By that logic, I can say I understand what tigers are saying!"
"Just pay them already! Have you no shame?"
"Well, I've seen it all now!"
The middle-aged woman was gloating internally.
'Little brat, trying to outsmart me? In your dreams!'
Diana Jennings and her two children looked worried, but Renee Jennings was the exact opposite.
She calmly said, "Since you don't believe I can communicate with dogs, let's do a little experiment."
"What kind of experiment?" someone asked, intrigued.
Renee Jennings looked over at a dog owner in the crowd of onlookers. "Bella is injured. Could I possibly borrow your dog?"
The young couple exchanged a look and asked quizzically, "How do you mean, 'borrow'?"
Renee Jennings said, "Let me ask it a few questions. I can find out your names from your dog."
The young couple agreed.
Renee Jennings looked at the toy poodle in the young man's arms. "Hello there, little fella. I'm Renee Jennings. And you are?"
The toy poodle replied, "My name is Oreo."
Renee Jennings said, "Oreo, your name sounds delicious."
The young couple's eyes went wide with shock.
Renee Jennings then asked, "What does your daddy like to call your mommy?"
Oreo was very cooperative. "Daddy calls Mommy his 'shweet wifey'!"
"And what does Mommy call Daddy?"
"Doggy!" Oreo finished, unable to keep from grinning.
Renee Jennings's lips curved into a smile as well.
The young couple was dying of curiosity. The girlfriend couldn't wait to ask, "What did Oreo say?"
Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow. "It said the dad calls the mom his 'sweet wifey,' and the mom calls the dad 'doggy'."
The couple's faces immediately lit up with excitement, and they nodded vigorously.
"That's right!"
"Oh my God, you can really talk to dogs!"
The crowd of onlookers looked on in amazement.
"Holy cow, she can actually understand what dogs are saying? She wasn't just making it all up?"
"That's incredible!"
Zane's and Jasmine's faces were flushed with excitement.
'Auntie is amazing!'
The middle-aged woman hadn't expected the tide to turn so quickly.
Her expression darkened, and she spat through gritted teeth, "You must all be in on this together!"
The young couple frowned. "No, we are not. We don't know this lady."
The middle-aged woman snorted. "I don't believe you."
Just then, several other pet owners in the crowd stepped forward, offering to let Renee Jennings borrow their own "fur babies."
One small dog.
Two small dogs.
Three small dogs.
Renee Jennings questioned each one, then announced the names of the pets and their owners.
The dogs' owners looked at Renee Jennings with newfound respect and admiration.
"That is so cool!"
"This girl is the real deal!"
Renee Jennings leveled a gaze at the middle-aged woman, her lips curling into a mocking smile. "Anything else you'd like to say?"
The middle-aged woman's face turned ashen. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Renee Jennings's gaze shifted, landing on the guilty-looking chubby boy. "You're the one who cut Bella with a blade. Why did you do it?"
The chubby boy frantically looked down. The short-haired woman cried out anxiously, "Nonsense! My son didn't do it! Stop filming!"
She tried to shield her son, to keep the onlookers' phones from capturing his face.
Renee Jennings sneered. "Bella says its mother was beaten to death by your son with a stick."
The expressions on the faces of the middle-aged woman and the short-haired woman changed drastically.
The chubby boy suddenly burst into a wail, "It's all Beike's fault for not letting me have the cookie! And she keeps biting me in my dreams every night! She dared to bite me, so I'm taking it out on Bella!"
The crowd of onlookers instantly erupted into chaos.
"This kid is so vengeful!"
"Good heavens, to be so twisted at such a young age!"
The short-haired woman covered her son's ears, crying and shouting, "Stop talking! My Xan is still little!"
Renee Jennings beckoned to Jasmine.
The little girl, having forgotten her hurt feelings and her fear of her "wicked" aunt, ran over on her short little legs.
"Auntie!"
"Jasmine, what happened to your cheek?" Renee Jennings bent down, looking with concern at the slight redness and swelling on the little girl's left cheek.
Jasmine blinked and pointed at the chubby boy. "That boy hit me. He said I was the one who made the puppy bleed. I said I wasn't, so he hit me in the face with his toy."
Renee Jennings's face darkened, her gaze sweeping icily over the chubby boy.
The short-haired woman felt her gaze and hugged her son tighter. "What's the point of arguing with a child?"
"So *now* we're not supposed to argue?" Renee Jennings scoffed. "Then again, it's not your place to be making demands."
The middle-aged woman said with a grim face, "How much money do you want? We'll just pay it!"
"Why would we want money? We're not short on it," Renee Jennings said with a smirk. "Just have your kid take one slap, and we'll call it even."
"No!" the short-haired woman shrieked. "Xan is my life! Don't you even think about touching him!"
Renee Jennings said mockingly, "So, are you offering to take the slap for your son?"
The short-haired woman could only grit her teeth and agree.
"I wouldn't want to dirty my hands hitting you," Renee Jennings stated her terms. "Leave Bella with us, and I won't touch you."
After conferring with the middle-aged woman, the short-haired woman agreed.
Renee Jennings's mood improved slightly. She said lightly, "Now it's time for your children to apologize."
The short-haired woman hadn't expected that her child would still have to apologize.
But they were clearly in the wrong, and with the constant condemnations from the crowd, they had no choice but to comply, however unwillingly.
The children who had caused the trouble took turns bowing and apologizing to Jasmine before scurrying away in disgrace.
The whole farce was finally over.
The crowd dispersed.
Renee Jennings and her party were preparing to take Bella to the veterinary hospital for treatment.
"Excuse me, miss." A well-dressed, middle-aged man in a suit suddenly stepped forward to speak with her.
"Yes?" Renee Jennings asked, puzzled.
He handed her a gold-embossed business card and politely explained his purpose. "I saw that you can communicate with pets. As it happens, my Krylia at home has been having some problems recently, and I was hoping you could take a look."
Renee Jennings was a bit surprised.
She accepted the card. "I'm sorry, but I have to take Bella to the vet right now."
"I know," the middle-aged man explained with a smile. "We can do it whenever you have the time."
"Alright, then," Renee Jennings nodded.
He clasped his hands, looking a little sheepish. "Could I possibly get your contact information?"
Renee Jennings hesitated for a few seconds before giving him her phone number.
"Thank you. I won't disturb you any further." The middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief and bid a gentlemanly farewell. "Until next time."
"Sis, do you want to take Zane and Jasmine home first?" Renee Jennings asked as they walked.
Before Diana Jennings could answer, the two kids chirped in unison, "No!"
Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow. "You want to come to the vet hospital?"
They weren't afraid of her now. They both nodded their little heads eagerly.
"Alright." A smile touched Renee Jennings's lips. "Then let's all go together."
[System 009: Congratulations, Miss Jennings, on completing your mission. Reward granted: Poultry Dictionary.]
**
「Veterinary Hospital.」
"What a good boy!"
"He's such a perfect little baby."
Getting an anti-inflammatory shot, taking his medicine, shaving the fur around the wound, then cleaning and dressing it—Bella was perfectly behaved through the whole process.
The vet and the nurses couldn't stop praising him.
Renee Jennings watched the sleeping Bella, debating whether to leave him at the hospital to let his wound heal properly.
Just as she was thinking, a vet tech came over and told her that one of their prize blue cats had been refusing to eat on its own for the last few days.