A Dog's Purpose

The sky gradually darkened, swallowing the noise and sin of Guancheng whole.

Brother Hu walked hurriedly, his steps revealing an urgency as if he was about to do something big.

He didn't leave through the clubhouse's magnificent main entrance, but bypassed it to the pitch-black parking lot at the back, rolling out a half-old motorcycle.

The roar of the engine tore through the tranquility of the alley. Brother Hu twisted the throttle and shot out like an arrow released from a bowstring.

He didn't know that a hundred meters behind him, another dim headlight quietly turned on, like a lone wolf lurking in the dark, tightly biting onto his trail.

Tang Ye rode an old motorcycle scavenged from a second-hand market. The engine let out a sputtering sound of protest, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

He deliberately kept his distance, blending into the night traffic, his figure as ordinary as a drop of water merging into the ocean.

He had come from Gutong in the Sichuan region to work in Guancheng.

Guancheng wasn't just home to the red-light industry; it also had many electronics factories.

On one side were the roaring machines of the electronics factories, and on the other were the neon-flashing money-squandering dens.

Tang Ye belonged to the electronics factory side, repeating mechanical movements on the assembly line every day in exchange for a meager salary.

Coming with him was a girl from the same village named Chen Miao.

Chen Miao was two years younger than him, with fair skin and eyes as clear as a mountain stream.

He remembered that her grades had always been excellent; she was the kind of university material the village elders always talked about.

Unfortunately, her family's financial situation simply couldn't support that expectation.

Hearing that he was heading to eastern Guangdong, Chen Miao, carrying a washed-out canvas bag, also hopped onto the southbound train.

At first, Tang Ye only treated her as a younger sister from his hometown who needed taking care of.

After all, when away from home, fellow villagers always had to look out for each other.

The two didn't work in the same factory, and their shifts were staggered, but they would always meet up for a meal every week, talking about interesting things at the factory and their hopes for the future.

He liked listening to her speak; her voice was crisp, like a freshly picked fruit from a branch.

He didn't know when, but this feeling of taking care of her began to change.

Two days ago, Chen Miao lost contact.

Initially, Tang Ye just thought she was busy and forgot to reply.

But one day passed, then two, and the other end of the phone remained dead silent.

He began to panic. It felt as if something was blocking his chest, making it so suffocating that he couldn't breathe.

He took a leave of absence and ran to Chen Miao's factory to find her. The answer he got was that she hadn't come to work for two days.

He asked her coworkers, but a few older women hesitated to speak, their eyes dodging his.

Only a peer who was usually close to Chen Miao spoke up directly in front of everyone:

"Chen Miao... she's been getting close to a thug named Brother Hu recently. She went out that day and never came back."

"Brother Hu?" Tang Ye's mind buzzed.

He had seen those people before—hair dyed in various colors, wearing flashy shirts, loitering at the factory gates, their eyes always roaming over the young female workers.

How could Chen Miao get involved with that kind of person? She wasn't like that.

But the coworker's next words were like a basin of ice water poured from the top of his head to his feet.

"They've been seeing each other since two weeks ago. We all saw Brother Hu come to pick her up in a car several times."

Two weeks...

Tang Ye only felt a wave of dizziness, his throat turning dry.

It turned out she had a new circle, a new life, while he, the self-righteous caretaker, was kept completely in the dark.

Like an idiot, he had been eagerly waiting for their weekly dinners.

But they were still chatting just two weeks ago.

His heart gradually grew cold.

He thought, forget it, she never even liked you in the first place.

What does a filthy migrant worker like you have to compare with others?

He turned and left. When he walked outside the factory, another older woman suddenly chased after him, lowering her voice to say:

"Young man, although I haven't seen Chen Miao leave with that Brother Hu, I advise you to leave it alone. That Brother Hu is not a good person. I heard that the girls he took away before never came back... and it's been more than one."

Those girls taken away by Brother Hu never came back.

She wasn't the only one who had been taken.

But what did her life or death have to do with him?

These words pierced Tang Ye's ears like needles.

He returned to his dorm, threw himself onto the hard wooden bed, and stared at the yellowing ceiling.

Even if the police came knocking, they were nothing more than fellow villagers.

"That's the path she chose herself. Her choice."

"She didn't choose you, idiot!"

"Tang Ye, you're just a presumptuous fool!"

He tossed and turned, but his mind was filled with Chen Miao's clear eyes.

He remembered how she looked when she first arrived, timidly following behind him.

He remembered her excitement when she got her first month's salary and treated him to spicy hotpot.

"Fuck!"

Tang Ye suddenly sat up from the bed, grabbed his phone, and dialed that familiar number once again.

"Hello, the number you have dialed is powered off..."

The cold, mechanical female voice was like a heavy hammer, smashing all his hesitation and retreat.

No.

He had to find her.

If she's alive, he must see her in person; if she's dead... he must see her corpse.

In 2013, the term simp didn't exist yet.

But Tang Ye's choice at this moment, in anyone's eyes, was no different from a moth darting into a flame.

But he couldn't care less.

The night wind howled, scraping against his face with the pain of a knife.

Tang Ye stared fixedly at the taillights of the motorcycle ahead. The cowardice and hesitation in his eyes were gradually stripped away, replaced by a near-insane stubbornness.

He didn't know where Brother Hu was going, nor did he know what he would face after finding Chen Miao.

He only knew that there were some things that, if he didn't do now, he would regret for the rest of his life.

The motorcycle ahead suddenly turned into an even more remote side road. The streetlights abruptly became sparse, and the darkness opened its maw like a giant beast.

Tang Ye took a deep breath. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned off his headlight, twisted the throttle,

This was an old warehouse, but it was fenced off. He could see quite a few people inside.

Tang Ye stopped his bike from a far distance.

He didn't dare rush straight over, slowly sneaking closer instead.

There was someone in the security booth, but the person seemed to be watching some kind of match.

So Tang Ye planned to find another way in. Just as he was outside the wall, he heard a voice coming from inside, which sounded like that guy named Brother Hu.

"Knock everyone out and load them into the vehicles. The Prince is hosting a banquet tonight."

"Understood, Brother Hu."

Hearing these voices, Tang Ye grew even more anxious.

He was like an ant on a hot pan, searching around the yard for a way to climb over the wall.

However, this place had clearly been inspected long ago; even the dog holes had been filled in.

The top of the wall was also embedded with glass shards set in concrete to prevent anyone from climbing over.

At this moment, Tang Ye wished he had lightness skills.

But he didn't.

"There really is someone here," a voice sounded behind him.

Then, a club struck viciously against the back of Tang Ye's head.

Tang Ye collapsed instantly.