Abandoned On the Highway for a Dog

My in-laws were old-fashioned. They insisted that spending New Year's in their hometown was a must for a smooth year ahead.

We could not get train tickets, so we decided to drive back. When my wife’s first love heard about it, he insisted on coming with us.

He even brazenly took the front passenger seat from me. “Charles, I get carsick easily. I can only sit in the front.”

Evan shot me a disdainful look.

"It's just a seat. Why are you being so touchy?"

“If you knew how to drive, would this even be an issue?”

My in-laws chimed in as well. “You’re a grown man. Why are you making such a fuss over something so small?”

Outnumbered, I had no choice but to squeeze into the back seat with my in-laws.

Then, when we were passing a toll booth, Yvonne spotted a stray dog and was suddenly overcome with compassion.

“That poor dog. Let’s bring it home with us.”

I immediately objected, “The car is already full. If we bring a dog too, we’ll be over the limit. We won’t even be allowed on the road.”

Before I had even finished speaking, Evan turned on me without hesitation.

“Charles, in that case, why don’t you give up your seat for the dog? You can just take a cab back!”

As we were passing a toll booth, Yvonne, who had insisted on squeezing into the car with us, spotted a stray dog and demanded that we take it home.

He completely ignored my objections.

Instead, he looked at Yvonne with a questioning gaze.

“Yvonne, look at this poor puppy. If we just leave it here, it’ll definitely freeze to death.”

“It’s still so young. It hasn’t even seen the world yet. It shouldn’t die here like this.”

As she spoke, she pulled the puppy tightly into his arms.

Yvonne tenderly took the coat I had left in the car, wrapped it around the puppy, and spoke as though the rest of us did not exist.

“Don’t worry. I won’t abandon it.”

“Don’t get your own clothes dirty. Use this coat to keep it warm.”

Then she turned to me with clear displeasure. “Charles, how can you be so heartless?”

“To you, this may just be a stray dog, but it’s a living being.”

“You can really just ignore it like this? How can you be so cold?”

I looked at the two of them, at a loss for words over their dramatic show of compassion.

From beginning to end, I never once said we should abandon the dog. Yet somehow, they painted me as a villain without a shred of humanity.

One of them was even my wife, the woman who had shared my bed for years.

Despite my anger, I explained patiently,

“If you really want to help the dog, we can leave it some food.”

“Or we can talk to the convenience store clerk here, leave some money, and ask them to help take care of it.”

“Our car is already full. If we take it with us, we’ll be overloaded, and we’ll definitely get pulled over by traffic police.”

I thought my explanation was clear enough.

However, the moment I finished speaking, Evan grew upset.

"Charles, I know you're rich, but are you seriously going to ditch a stray dog on some random store clerk?"

“How do you know they’ll actually take good care of it?”

“What if they take the money and do nothing? What happens to Blackie then?”

In less than five minutes, he had already given the stray dog a name.

“How is such a tiny puppy supposed to survive this winter?”

“To you rich folks, a dog’s life doesn’t matter at all, but it’s still a living creature!”

“Can you really bear to leave it here all alone? Can’t you see it’s already shaking from the cold?”

I could not help but laugh at Evan’s guilt trip. “You know, you’ve got a point.”

Then I went in a different direction. “How about you give your seat to Blackie?”

“After all, you’re the one who’s extra in this car.”