Sophia listened and was silent for a moment. She said, "Send her a message and ask if she still wants the dog. If not, we will take him to the animal rescue center."
Amelia didn't think much and immediately sent a message to the other party as Sophia said.
Then, the two of them took Four-Eyes to the animal rescue center.
Before arriving, Sophia changed Four-Eyes' collar and dog tag to the new ones.
She explained the situation to the staff.
"This dog was found by us. We called the contact on the tag and made an appointment, but the other party didn't come. It seems the dog was abandoned. We want to adopt him, but it might not be possible now, right?"
Sophia said this and asked.
The staff nodded, "We need to verify the situation first, then decide what to do next."
At that moment, the other party replied to Amelia's message.
The attitude was still very bad.
"You can take that dead dog away! Don't bother me! If you don't want it, just throw it away!"
Amelia showed the message to the staff.
The staff began registering the dog's information.
While registering, they noticed the dog tag had a retired police dog mark.
"Is this a retired police dog?"
The staff was surprised.
Sophia and Amelia looked at each other.
Then they left their contact information with the staff.
When leaving, Sophia slipped a few hundred cash to the staff.
It was only a few hundred because that was all she had on her.
"This dog has been with us for some time and we are attached to him. Please take good care of him. Contact me anytime if there is any problem."
Sophia had to do this reluctantly because from the other person's behavior, they seemed unpredictable.
If the matter wasn't fully settled, the dog might be taken back later.
The staff tried to refuse but accepted after Sophia insisted.
Sophia also added the other party's WeChat and transferred 1,000 yuan, saying it was for dog food.
But they all knew how long 1,000 yuan of dog food would last, and the rest would be controlled by the staff.
It was just a polite excuse to make the other party accept it.
After temporarily settling Four-Eyes, Sophia and Amelia left.
"Teacher asked me to attend a banquet this afternoon. Sophia, come with me!"
Amelia held Sophia's arm and acted cute.
It was a last-minute notice. Amelia had originally bought a ticket to leave tonight but canceled it.
The plane ticket was almost non-refundable, and most of the money was lost. Though it didn't cost Amelia, it was still painful.
Sophia had to stay here to handle the dog adoption paperwork and deliver the appraisal results for the batch of antique jewelry from Lide.
Since she was free, she agreed.
This was a good chance to meet more people, which would help sell her antiques later.
The commission fees from the auction were too high.
Sophia also wanted to explore more channels and take the chance to meet new people. It would help build connections for future business.
So, the two of them used the free afternoon to buy outfits and get their hair done.
Sophia searched through her collection of antique jewelry and picked a set each for herself and Amelia.
They wore matching cheongsams. One wore green, the other white. Both wore dangling earrings, with their hair done up using jade hairpins. One had a bright green jade bracelet, and the other wore a thick, smooth Hetian jade bangle.
Though they were both in cheongsams, one had a gentle and elegant vibe, while the other looked a bit playful.
Sophia was a few years younger. She wore a white cheongsam with pink trimming and an embroidered plum blossom at the hem. Her hair was all tied up.
After she changed into it, Amelia was immediately amazed.
Cheongsams only look good when tailored to fit. Sophia had tried more than ten sets before finding one with the style she liked and a perfect fit.
When Sophia stepped out in her outfit, Amelia almost wanted to change hers. Though her own dress was pretty, it was completely overshadowed.
In the end, Amelia didn't change her dress.
They headed together to the hotel where the event was held.
The banquet hadn't officially started yet, but the atmosphere was already lively. People, both familiar and unfamiliar, were clinking glasses and chatting in groups.
Amelia was still new to this circle and didn't know many people.
Holding a glass of champagne, she looked around for a while and finally spotted someone she knew.
She pulled Sophia with her as they walked over.
There were five young people — three men and two women. The men wore well-tailored suits, and the women were in evening gowns. They were chatting about tonight's main guest.
When Amelia approached, someone from the group reached out to her from afar.
The group gave Amelia a polite nod and then looked at Sophia with curious interest, clearly waiting for an introduction.
"This is Sophia, my junior from school. She's a little rich lady."
Amelia kept the introduction short and left a bit of mystery.
The group glanced at Sophia's jewelry. One look, and they could tell it was real.
That lowered their guard. Smiles appeared on their faces as they reached out to shake hands with Sophia.
"This is Manager Su, from Tianwei Entertainment. Their company raised Narra, one of the top four rising actresses in the film industry."
"This is Marius. Remember the newly released NV95 smart car? It's been a big hit. His company developed it."
"This is Lazlo. He graduated from Imperial College London with a PhD and is doing research in new energy materials. His family business, Bixuan Era, is all about new energy batteries."
"This is Haiwen. Her family's in real estate. She's currently helping her father run the group."
Amelia introduced them one by one, then looked at Sophia and said, "What a coincidence. Haiwen's company focuses on real estate, and their headquarters are in Peng City. Sophia, isn't your place near there? Maybe you two could have tea sometime."
Haiwen smiled sweetly and replied, "Let's do that. But Peng City is known as a food desert. For real food, you have to go to Yang City."
Manager Su suddenly laughed. "Remember when your brother took Zinni into the woods for some countryside food? She got so scared she rushed back to Hu City that same night."
There were online jokes going around. The prince of the capital was known for power and status, the prince of Hu City was sharp and business-savvy, and the prince of Yang City wore slippers and took his girlfriend into the woods to eat home-style food.
No one expected that to actually happen in real life.
The others thought of the story too. Even if they didn't laugh as loudly as Manager Su, they still smiled or tried to hold in their laughter.