Mo Kun was afraid that Athena would feel anxious and hurt her with its teeth and small paws.

Although Athena's small paws were well-trimmed, they were still paws after all!

So he said to Long Xi, "Let it go. Let's go and walk the dog."

He pointed to a golden retriever playing with a ball by itself, in the distance.

Long Xi put Athena down. Athena immediately ran to Xiaolu, lolled its tongue and wagged its tail furiously. It looked like it really wanted to make its presence known to its master.

Xiaolu was also amused by the dog's silly antics. He sat down on the bench in the rose garden, patted his thigh, and said to the silly dog, "Come here!"

Athena immediately "cheered up", scrambled on its short legs and wanted to jump onto Xiaolu's thigh. But limited by its small body and short legs, it could not reach its destination after several attempts. This made it so anxious, that it whined and whirled around continuously.

Xiaolu laughed, picked it up and put it on his lap. It happily… settled down on Xiaolu's lap.

It did not quieten down until Xiaolu raised it up with both hands and fed it a piece of strawberry-flavored jerky.

Athena was going through a hair shedding phase and shed a lot of furs.

Looking at the brown curls that clung to his whole body, Xiaolu could not help pinching its lovely little ears, laughed and said, "Athena, you are not allowed on my bed from today. I don't want to wake up every day covered with fur. Others might think I am sleeping with you every day."

How could Athena understand such complicated words? It just stuck its little tongue out and gave a lovely and silly smile!

Long Xi said, "Athena? Zeus? Those are the names of the G.o.ds in Greek mythology!"

Xiaolu said indifferently, "The names of all the dogs were given by my mother, taken from the names of the G.o.ds in Greek mythology. I don't know what kind of thrill she gets from doing that!"

Mo Kun pointed to the golden retriever in the distance and asked, "What's the name of that dog?"

Xiaolu said, "I picked it up on the way to my audition in B city. I named it 'Sisyphus'!"

Long Xi asked, "Sisyphus? It seems to be the name of a hero who fought against the G.o.ds in Greek mythology."

Xiaolu said, "Yes, he is the one in Greek mythology, whose punishment was to push stones up the mountain every day! He was a resourceful and rebellious man in Greek mythology. He offended the G.o.ds. As a punishment, the G.o.ds made him push a very heavy boulder up to the top of a very steep mountain. Afterward, he will take a step towards the edge of the cliff and watch the stone roll down to the foot of the mountain. He has to repeat this meaningless action day after day, forever and hopelessly, until the end of his life. Do you think my mother is like a G.o.d on high, especially Hera the Queen of Heaven, and I'm the punished Sisyphus? I just want to live the way I want and follow the way I like. Why does she have to try and stop me?"

When he said that, Long Xi recalled that she had read this Greek myth story, in a book before.

She said, "There could no worse severe punishment for a wise, independent, and rebellious person, than to engage in such futile, hopeless work. The G.o.ds in Greek mythology think too much and I have to admire their 'wisdom'! It was a pity that Sisyphus's life was gradually exhausted in such futile, hopeless work! But aren't you exaggerating a little when you compare yourself to Sisyphus and your mother to Hera the Queen of Heaven? Your mother still loves you, but her way of showing her love is a little wrong, as it is a bit domineering!"

Xiaolu looked up at the blue sky at an angle of 45 degrees and was silent. His eyes were filled with indignation and sadness.

Long Xi felt sorry for him for a few seconds. Then she quickly changed the subject and said, "Sisyphus seems to be injured, a bit lame, and missing an ear."

Xiaolu said, "Yes, I suspect it was abused and its ear was cut off with a sharp object. I found it in a garbage dump, and it was scarred and dying. I took it to the dog clinic and had it treated there for two days. It healed gradually. Afterward, I fell out with my mother and took it home. Anyway, our dogs have a special veterinarian to treat them, and they come over once or twice a week."

Long Xi said, "It's pitiful! Can I do anything for it?"

Xiaolu said, "Maybe it's because it had been badly injured, so it's wary of people now. But I find that it loves bathing very much. Each time it takes a bath, it's very happy."

Long Xi said, "Then I'll bath it. Where can we bathe it?"

Xiaolu pointed to a light blue hut over at a corner and said, "That's the shower room for the dogs. You see, it goes near the hut even while it is playing, which shows that it really likes that place! You can bring it there for its wash, don't be afraid, and get Big Brother Kun to protect you! In fact, it's very docile. It keeps its distance from people due to fear!"

Long Xi and Mo Kun walked over, hand in hand. Mo Kun took the lead of the golden retriever, pointed to the blue hut and said, "Come, let's take a bath!"

The golden retriever looked fearfully at Long Xi and him, as if trying to gauge whether they would hurt him or not.

Long Xi opened the door of the blue hut, went inside, and saw that everything they needed was there. So she turned on the tap and filled the dog's bathtub with water.

The sound of rus.h.i.+ng water attracted the attention of the golden retriever. When Mo Kun pulled its dog chain, it meekly followed him in.

Long Xi had worked as a temporary worker in a pet shop before, and knew how to bathe golden retrievers.

She first found a comb in the drawer of the metal cabinet, and combed its golden fur carefully, and bit by bit unraveled the little knots that were tangled together. If it could not be untangled, she cut it off with a pair of scissors. Otherwise, the knot would get even more tangled when it got wet.

Then she stuffed the dog's ears with cotton. In order to keep the water out, the ointment should also be applied around its eyes.

She tested the temperature of the water, which was suitable now, and told Mo Kun to let go of the dog chain.

Sure enough, the golden retriever jumped into the bathtub with a great splash, then grinned and stuck out its tongue. Its eyes that were red due to an inflammation, sparkled brightly.

Long Xi applied a dog's special bath lotion all over the dog. Her eyes were filled with tender care, which made Mo Kun a little jealous.

The golden retriever was probably won over by her gentleness and barked a few times, "ow-ow-ow-ow". Its barks sounded a bit bleak, which almost made one cry!

Long Xi also spoke to it softly, a few times, as if to say, "I understand you!"

The golden retriever's eyes actually shed tears. Its huge head, minus an ear buried itself in Long Xi's chest, and gently rubbed against her, as if seeking comfort.

Mo Kun saw that there were water and foam on Long Xi's body. Alas, it seemed that she had to change again! How could Long Xi be so nice to a dog she did not even know? And how could his heart be jealous again?

Fine, for the poor dog's sake, Lord Mo Kun decided to let it go!

But he still could not help saying, "Xixi, when will you serve me as tenderly, when I take a bath?"

Long Xi stuck her tongue out and said naughtily, "Wait until you become a dog!"

"What?" Lord Mo Kun was unhappy, so he took the golden retriever's dog chain and pulled it out, saying, "If I can't get it, other dogs, oh, no, this dog will not receive such treatment, too!"

Sisyphus, the golden retriever, tried its best to win the "tug-of-war" with him. It showed its teeth and gave a low, warning growl, unwilling to leave Long Xi.

Lord Mo Kun simply took it in his arms. Although it was big and heavy, Lord Mo Kun had more strength than it. It hardly fazed him.

The golden retriever was smart, too. It shook its head and body several times and splattered water all over Mo Kun's face and body.

Long Xi laughed and said, "Dear Brother Kun, why are you fighting with a dog? Okay, okay, I promise you. On the night of my eighteenth birthday, I'll serve my husband in the bath. What's my husband's opinion?"

Mo Kun put down the golden retriever, who immediately hid behind Long Xi.

Mo Kun giggled and said, "Xixi, don't write empty checks, you have to cash in what you say! I'm also counting down, day by day, in my heart!"

Xixi's face was red. She knew that he was not only referring to serving him to take a bath but also about what she had promised before, her first time with him. So she avoided his eyes, washed the foam off the golden retriever with the shower, and said with a smile, "Why are you so wordy? You can do whatever you want at that time! Have I, Long Xi ever failed to live up to what I promised?"

Mo Kun smiled and said, "Good!"

Long Xi rinsed the golden retriever well and said, "Do you think I am able to see the memories of Sisyphus? Didn't I dream of Kunkun's memories before?"

Mo Kun understood her instantly, said, "You want to catch the real culprit who abused the dogs?"

Long Xi nodded.

Mo Kun said, "Let's talk about it later."

There were not many subsidiary chips left from the 60 subsidiary chips he brought from his home planet. With the current technology on Earth, it was temporarily impossible to reproduce such chips. Moreover, once the subsidiary chips were used, they could not be recovered or recycled. Therefore, he did not want to use the subsidiary chip on a golden retriever, at present. He previously used the chips on three golden eagles and two snow leopards, mainly to test if they would work on animals on Earth. The results were already clear, so there was no need for similar experiments.

After Long Xi bathed the golden retriever, it followed Long Xi everywhere. It almost became Long Xi's shadow.

Mo Kun could not help worrying. Alas, this golden retriever was even clingier than Fan Xiaolu. And it was a male!