<h4>Chapter 355: Old Friends</h4>
Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With Jane and the videographer driving to lead him, Zhang Zian felt much more relieved. Tim did not install a GPS in this minivan, perhaps because the couple had been living here long enough that no GPS was necessary.
Tim and Lauren didn’t reside in downtown Los Angeles, but in a county of arge district. The CFA Tournament this time was being held in a nearby county, about half an hour away by driving.
Along the way, Zhang Zian and Richard discussed possible conditions for the venue and negotiated countermeasures.
In another car, the videographer was very suspicious about whether Jane’s approach was correct; in his opinion, this fraudulent sorcerer Mr. Zhang must have been using some type of cloaking by arranging some props on thewn in advance. They shouldn’t be wasting time on this matter—to some extent, his guess was closer to the truth.
Jane could not be sure, but she insisted on doing this, believing it was worth a try.
Approaching the destination, Jane, who was driving, noticed that there were temporary signs on the roadsides, which were serving to point directions for CFA participants and spectators. Vehicles sprayed with various cat patterns were frequently passing her car. Some were pictures of real cats, some were of cartoon cats like Hello Kitty, and some cars were printed with phone numbers, advertising their own catteries.
When they arrived at the stadium marked on the map, she saw that this ce had be the sea of cats. Cats of all kinds and of various colors—although she couldn’t tell the breeds of them — had been closed in cat cages, carried by their owners, and were brought into the stadium. Some catteries didn’t attach much importance to winning, for they had sent only one or two people; while other catteries had sent a strong lineup, obviously ambitious for the championship.
Many cat owners knew each other. Instead of bringing their cats into the stadium, they were standing near the entrance, greeting one another, talking about the news and gossiping about cats, exchanging experiences in cat raising. Of course, some people were just talking about the weather and election, like ordinary Americans were.
Her car and Zhang Zian’s car were parked in front of the gym. Several cattery owners recognized the vehicle that belonged to Blue Climax, and they came by to say hi.
“Hi, Tim, you’rete today…”
However, the only person that got out of the car was not their old friend Tim, but a strange Chinese man with ck hair and yellow skin.
“What… Who are you? Why are you driving Tim’s car?” Out of concern for their old friend, they inquired bluntly at Zhang Zian and even surrounded him to prevent him from escaping.
Jane indicated the videographer to start shooting hurriedly. It would be best if they could start fighting. Whether Zhang Zian would defeat them or if he was the one being beaten up, it would be a piece of good news—the title for the former would be The Kung Fu Master Deserves His Reputation, while the title for thetter would be Exposing the Fake Kung Fu Master.
These Americans were tall and muscr, and Zhang Zian, who was surrounded in the middle, seemed very poor and small.
He maintained a calm look, and Richard said, “It was Tim who let me drive his car. He and Lauren are staying at home and they are not going to participate in the race—if you are his friends, you should know that the kittens in Blue Climax are not ready to participate.”
They hesitated and looked at each other, but believed most of his words. Tim did tell them that he was not going to participate in this tournament, thinking that there were plenty of chances for him in the future. And the status of Blue Climax was just like the Chinese man had said.
“Sorry to have misunderstood you. I’m Jack.”
“I am Simon.”
“I’m Vincent.”
“Carl.”
“I’m Jeff Zhang from China. I’m a friend of Tim and Lauren, and I’m living at their home temporarily.”
They introduced themselves to Zhang Zian and shook hands with him one by one, and the tense atmosphere eased up. The dressing styles and even the tones of these people were very simr to that of Tim. Wearing scruffy id shirts, ck jeans and worker’s boots, they seemed like they were in their forties and had straightforward characters. No wonder they and Tim were old friends.
Jane pouted disappointingly, indicating for the videographer to put down the camera, for the shooting would be unnecessary right now.
Zhang Zian knew that they were rude to him out of concern for their friend, so he didn’t mind.
Karl raised his baseball cap and asked tentatively, “Tim did tell us that he did not intend to participate in thepetition, but he said he woulde to visit and gather with us, his old friends. Has he changed his mind?”
Zhang Zian nodded, and Richard replied ording to the current situation, “Thanksgiving is approaching, and as you know, the Kellers hold a party in their backyard every year, so he’s too busy preparing for that toe to this. He and Lauren asked me to say hello to you on their behalf, and invite you to join the party.”
He even knew such details of their lives, these friends of Tim had no doubts towards Zhang Zian anymore.
“Jeff, how did you get to know Tim? We didn’t hear him mention he had met a friend from China,” asked Simon.
Richard replied, “Because when they went to China recently, they met me in China and invited me toe to the United States as a guest.”
Vincent replied, “Oh”, and said with a sense of pride in his tone, “So you are here to visit the CFApetition? Wee! Be sure to go to my booth! I presume you have seen Tim’s cats, but our cats are as good as his! ”
“Come on, Vincent, you won the least championships among usst year, stop embarrassing yourself in front of this friend from China!”
“What did you say! Last year I missed a few races because I was renovating my house. The results have nothing to do with my cats!”
Vincent’s words aroused theughter and sarcasm of other people, and he retorted bitterly.
It seemed that although they were friends, they were secretlypeting with each other and strived to foster cats of better conditions. In this atmosphere of healthypetition, they were both supportive of each other and progressing together.
“Please go to my booth.”
“You must go to my booth!”
All of them had enough confidence in their own cats and were inviting Zhang Zian toe to their booths. In a sense, this was also a part of the contest among them—asking Zhang Zian, the fair third party, to judge whose cats were better, they even started quarrelling. Their voices were so loud that other participants and audience members started to look this way, thinking that they were fighting.
“Everyone! Please! Listen to me.” Richard interrupted them.
They quieted down, looking at Zhang Zian and waiting for what he was going to say.
“Thank you very much for your invitation, but… actually, I’m not here to be in the audience—I’m here to attend the race.”
After this remark, the smiles on their faces suddenly became stagnant. They heard that Zhang Zian came from China and instinctively thought that he was in the United States for fun, and hadn’t thought of the possibility of his participation. They knew that there were catteries from China that often cheated in the races, so the CFA had cut off China from other regions, and now a cattery owner from China hade all the way here to participate in the United States’petition?
However, out of trust in Tim, though they were surprised, they had no exaggeration of words and actions.
Richard went on exining, “I run a pet shop in China, and because of this, I got to know Tim. It was a spur of the moment for me to join the race today, which had nothing to do with Tim. He just lent me the car.”
Pet shop?
They felt ridiculous. If it was a cattery from China, maybe they would pay more attention to him— after all, the catteries in China used miraculous methods to win. But a pet shop owner at amateur level dared to participate in the CFApetition? Was he looking down on thepetence of the catteries in the United States?!
Simon vaguely squeezed his eyes towards the other three friends, pretending to be serious and asked, “Jeff, which cat breed have you brought? The Ragdoll?”
Since Ragdoll cats were very popr, and nearly half of the cats participating in the CFApetition were Ragdolls, plus the fact that Tim was selling Ragdoll cats, and Zhang Zian knew Tim, Simon was pretty sure about his conjecture.
Zhang Zian shrugged and looked sorry, “No. Because my cat does not have a studbook, it can’t vie for the championship. I’m here to take it to thepetition for house cats, where any breed of cat can participate.”
They finally could not help butugh. He was indeed an amateur,ing afar from China only to attend thepetition for house cats in the United States. Everyone knew that thepetition for house cats was only an entertainment and performancepetition, and even if his cat won in the end, it couldn’t prove anything.
“Well, Jeff, where is your cat? Let’s take a look at your cat. With our keen eyes, just by a nce, we can tell the chance it has in bing the winner in thepetition for house cats,” Karl said with a smile.
Zhang Zian turned back to the car and said in Chinese, “Fina, get out quickly!”