The Pet Store’s Humiliation

“What can I get for you, handsome?”

At that moment, in front of a pet store on the fourth floor of the mall, Luo Yao cautiously stepped through the entrance, approaching the counter.

Upon seeing Luo Yao’s sudden appearance, the female shop assistant, who had been standing behind the counter with vacant eyes, suddenly found them brimming with an inexplicable light.

A faint blush now graced Luo Yao’s usually fair face, adding a touch of endearing charm to his features.

“Excuse me… do you… have any bowls suitable for me?” Luo Yao asked, raising his head with evident discomfort and a hint of embarrassment in his eyes.

“Wh-what? Could you repeat that, handsome? I didn’t quite catch it,” the shop assistant responded, a slight twitch at the corner of her lips. She wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her.

“I mean, I’m here to buy a bowl… A larger one would be best, but a smaller one is fine too,” Luo Yao clarified, momentarily at a loss for how to respond under the shop assistant’s bewildered gaze.

Twenty minutes earlier.

“Buy everything on the list, one by one. I’ve also arranged your lines for you. If you don’t follow my instructions, hehe…” In the underground parking garage, Frost leaned against a wall, her gaze chilling as she held her phone, pointing it at Luo Yao.

Watching Mu Yaochen wave her phone from the screen, Luo Yao felt as if he had completely overplayed his hand.

His original plan had been to follow the typical web novel trope: feign weakness to gain the sympathy of a wealthy woman like Mu Yaochen. Then, he would employ a few ‘playing hard to get’ tactics, stringing her along and steadily increasing her affection for him. This, he believed, was the proper storyline for a transmigrator like himself.

It was a flawless plot, and he perfectly fit the character archetype. Yet, Mu Yaochen had never given him a single opportunity; he had been led by the nose by this woman from start to finish.

He had completely deviated from his planned course, or more precisely, he had entirely lost control.

Luo Yao had utterly failed to anticipate that Mu Yaochen was not as easily manipulated as she had seemed during their first encounter. On the contrary, she was a perverse, temperamental woman, devoid of the gentleness and compassion one might expect from others of her s*x.

Gazing at Mu Yaochen on the phone screen, Luo Yao involuntarily clenched his fists. Though he yearned to vent his frustration, the collar around his neck effectively restricted his every movement.

Powerlessness. Absolute powerlessness.

Mu Yaochen intended to treat him like a dog.

The items on the list were all things typically used by pets.

For instance, the list included:

The humiliating task of purchasing a metal food bowl for a dog from a pet store, along with an iron chain matching the collar around his neck.

Mu Yaochen’s objective was to utterly shatter his self-respect, transforming him entirely into her devoted pet.

Perhaps…

Mu Yaochen’s idea was correct, for Luo Yao had consistently portrayed himself as a weak and helpless high school student in front of her—the kind who was particularly easy to bully.

His aim had been to garner Mu Yaochen’s sympathy.

Yet, it was precisely Luo Yao’s outwardly weak demeanor that had inspired Mu Yaochen’s desire to utterly break him.

“Be obedient, little Yao Yao, and there will be rewards,” Mu Yaochen said, smiling faintly as she observed Luo Yao’s reluctance.

“No… Ah, ah…” Luo Yao struggled slightly, but the moment the word ‘no’ escaped his lips, a tingling sensation shot through his neck.

“Fine… I’ll be obedient,” he quickly nodded, watching Mu Yaochen toy with her phone.

“That’s a good dog. All right, Frost, take him,” Mu Yaochen instructed before hanging up the call.

“Put this on,” Frost said, handing Luo Yao an earphone-like device after Mu Yaochen ended the call.

Luo Yao gazed at the earphone in his hand, then lifted his eyes to meet Frost’s impassive stare.

‘Was there no escape for him?’ he thought.

“Mm… okay.”

Luo Yao nodded, resigned. Despite his helplessness, he had already anticipated his next move.

Mu Yaochen was not easily swayed by weakness, nor did Luo Yao place any hope in the woman standing before him, who resembled a wooden puppet.

“Hello, can you hear me?” As Luo Yao put on the earphone, the familiar whisper of the devil assailed him once more.

“I… I can hear you,” Luo Yao stammered, his heart lurching at Mu Yaochen’s voice.

“Good. Frost, take him up,” Mu Yaochen commanded. Luo Yao looked up to see Frost also wearing an identical earphone.

“Understood, Miss.”

****

“You didn’t mishear me, handsome, did you?” The shop assistant was now scrutinizing Luo Yao with the gaze one might reserve for a rare artifact. Simultaneously, she noticed the collar around his neck.

“What’s that you’re wearing around your neck?” she asked, curiosity piquing. She slowly emerged from behind the counter, extending a hand as if intrigued by Luo Yao’s collar.

More than curiosity about the collar, it was Luo Yao himself who captivated her interest.

A man of his caliber was quite rare, and he seemed underage. ‘Would this count as indecent assault?’ she mused.

As the female shop assistant pondered, one hand already reached Luo Yao’s neck. Seeing her approach and extend her hand, Luo Yao instinctively tried to retreat, but the shop was simply too small.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Just as the shop assistant was about to touch Luo Yao’s face, a dog in a cage inexplicably began barking furiously.

“Pudding, stop that racket!” Startled, the female shop assistant whirled around, scolding a cage behind her. When she turned back, she noticed a tall woman had appeared silently at the very entrance of the store.

“Um… do you sell…” Luo Yao stared at the shop assistant with feigned terror, acting utterly frightened. Yet, his fists were clenched tightly; at that moment, he wished he could unleash all his fury upon this woman.

“Sell… Ah, handsome, you just said you wanted a dog’s food bowl, right?” The shop assistant looked at Luo Yao with some embarrassment, considering her recent unsavory thoughts about him.

“Yes, I want the larger one,” Luo Yao nodded, then glanced at the various cages behind the assistant and the diverse dogs within them.

‘What kind of fate awaited him?’ he wondered.

“A larger one, you say? And what kind of dog do you have at home?” the shop assistant asked, turning towards the counter behind her as if searching for something.

…

‘How… how should he put it?’

Luo Yao recalled the lines written on the list.

All those phrases about being ‘lowly’ and ‘a male dog’…

The lines Mu Yaochen had concocted for him were all terrible and utterly humiliating.

“Um, this is for me to use.”

After a brief pause of a few seconds, the shop assistant turned back to Luo Yao, her expression one of disbelief.

“Little brother, are you alright?”

The shop assistant couldn’t believe such a refined young man would utter words like that.

“Little Yao Yao, where are your lines?” Just as the shop assistant turned back to Luo Yao in astonishment, Mu Yaochen’s voice echoed through the earphone in Luo Yao’s ear.

“Um… please… just sell me a dog’s food bowl,” Luo Yao murmured, slowly lowering his head, unable to meet the shop assistant’s eyes.

“It seems you still haven’t recognized your place.”

The moment Luo Yao finished speaking, Mu Yaochen’s icy voice once again emanated from the earphone.

“Naughty, disobedient boy.”